Day 6 of MSQC Jennys box

 I had to dig in the box, I think that is half the fun! 

I scanned the QR code with my phone that brought me to the opening page with the links. Someone from MSQC opens the present and says what it is. If it is a project, then they hand it off to elf Courtney to show how to do the project and give hints and tips.

Today's gift was a Word of the Day pillow pattern. Along with the pattern came some light fusible and a cute see through bag of capital letters and I did notice a # in there as well. I pulled out my name so you can see them. Plastic templates that are thin but will be good for tracing around. The bag they are in is heavy duty bendy plastic and it has holes punched in the top to fit into a binder and a place to label what it is. Pretty neat. 

Some examples of the pillows. They suggested doing crumb piecing for the pillows and she showed a bit how to do that. I know I have crumbs from the RSC in a box.... ;).

On tap today - I never did finish decorating the house so I'll do that. I need to make the kids countdown to Christmas snakes. I got plenty of things to put in them, just need to lay them out and pop them into the fabric snake and put it under the tree. My brother tasked me with coordinating the R family gathering while we are up there after Christmas, so that e-mail needs to go out today.

Emily and I have #11 of the Girl Scout Drive in this evening. We are opting not to spend the night in tents, but will park on the outside of the exit and watch a few movies and then head home after watching Zootopia, Zootopia 2 and Wicked 2. Emily has a Christmas Parade the next day in the town where her school is. At least it won't be in the low 40's tonight like the last 2 years! It does have a chance of rain this evening and tomorrow, which is a bummer. Greg is headed to his Dad's today as someone is coming to clear out the house and will donate to a few charities as they see fit. 

I'm not sure I ever mentioned it here, but Greg appealed his VA case back in April 2023 and we heard on Veterans day, they did decide to label him as 100% unemployable due to various medical issues noted with his VA doctors over the last 8 years. They did have him redo 2 doctor appointments in late October for the appeal. That affects his pay and allows the kids and I to be covered under his medical now. I currently have to get health insurance for me and the kids through the ACA or ObamaCare on the Marketplace. Before the marketplace when we first moved down here, I was paying $1,200+ a month for my family's health insurance. Under the ACA it went down to 400-600 a month depending on the plan... and then the standard co-pay and deductible and paying for scripts and all visits except annual physical. All this to say we have been waiting to hear on our insurance but got the packet in the mail on Thursday. Friday I got to cancel my current insurance - with both Florida Blue and on the Marketplace, and swap my scripts with my providers to the VA mail one. Interesting note, I've spent over $1,300 out of pocket for me and the kids so far this year, on top of the monthly cost! Yikes. There are also some nice benefits for the kids when they are in college with this level of rating with the VA. He was at 90% and lets just say VA math is 'interesting'. 

Day 5 of MSQC Jennys box

 The girls got yard time yesterday.  Starting to look better after molting.

This is the 4th mug in the set. I got the blue and teal in my other boxes. The red was the first year that I don't have. Dishwasher and microwave safe.

They all have different sayings and pattern. 

I started sewing in the afternoon on some hst for the bear paw blocks, but got distracted by hubby looking at Alaska trip things.

Day 4 of MSQC Jenny's box

 I admit, I 'might' have opened day #4 yesterday after opening day 3 with this cute 5 inch charm pack. Look at those springy colors!

Day 4 has the pattern for Bow Wow mug rugs! How cute is that!

It also came with the two templates - a cat and a dog. Is it just me, or can you see these being used in a border with cat or dog faces quilted all around?

I know what I'll be playing with in the sewing room later. This and maybe make a snowglobe block or two from day 1, using the new rotary cutter from day 2! 

I felt I needed to finish up Gobble Gobble first though, so he got the last ble done while Hubby was in charge of dinner. 

He wanted to try a rotisserie chicken in the air fryer, since ours has all the attachments. My Sams club chicken was bigger than expected so he did the flip half way instead of on the spit. Nice crispy skin and juicy. Will need to play with spices next time. 

Off to the dentist for a cleaning.

Day 3 of MSQC jennys box

 

A charm pack of maywood studio mix & match.

Oranges, yellows, spring greens and blues. 

I 'might' have peeked at day 4... since it goes with day 3. OMG! Super cute!

Since I have a msqc bundle going from Mondays daily deals - quilt hangers, 3yd snowflake white, 2 queen quilt storage bags..... I added the 10 inch twirling cutting mat today. I think im at the free shipping, but I'll check the next few days to see if there is anything that jumps into the checkout. 

Emily helped me find the 3rddayinthe box before she left for school. It was at the bottom. 

Guess I need to make their countdown snakes soon.

Day 2 of MSQC Jennys box

 Today's gift was a new small rotary cutter! I needed to change my blade on my other one...so I can just use this one instead! I do love this size for cutting.

On another note, I did another order from Pieces of the Past a few weeks ago when they had a 20% off I think on these Simplique items. I looked at them all but decided to try this one. It has quite a few shapes that I can see using on applique vines/leaves and for this cute snowflake block. Has anyone used these before? I also got a slew more fabrics.... some for Aidan's quilt and some for me =). Not that I need it....

I might have started a bundle with MSQC yesterday with their daily deals changing every 30 minutes. I got a couple of sets of quilt hangers, some WOW snowflake fabric and 2 queen size quilt storage bags. I'm not up to the free shipping yet, so I'll check and see what other deals they have for the next 7 days. Hoping for some wide backings to be on sale.... never can have enough of those!

Video on how it works. Piecing the Past Quilts Simplique 

Beef stew is in the crock pot for dinner =).

Day 1 of MSQC Jennys box

 It's December 1st and I got to open the first countdown present from Jenny's box! I'm on year 3 for this box and love it already! Snow globes! I love snow globes.

The link to them is in a QR code on the package this year! A little first day snafu on the link not being open when expected, but they got it fixed pretty quickly. It was great to see Courtney the elf on the video who does the job of showing us tips and tricks to make the projects.

Inside was this pattern booklet for a wall hanging...

and a table runner! 

It came with this cute panel to cut out the snow globes from (there are extra's too!) and the red for the base is included in the panel. 

How fun is that!

Slow Sunday stitching

 

After a busy Friday I had a bit more of a lazy Saturday. I did make blueberry muffins for breakfast and watched the Sprint race with Aidan. Then I walked the dog. The kids were getting in the car to head to Grandma's house as Bear and I got home. They were helping her Christmas her house. 

I wanted to support a local business, so I headed over to Ocala Hammer and Stain who was having a open ornament bar event for a few hours. I picked 2 and painted them and glued the wooden pieces together. The Bear ornament and blue snowflake are the ones I did. The other is Grandma's ornament she bought for Emily this year.

I had an ad on FB marketplace for my old tv and tv hutch. The tv went while I was gone - I handled the transaction correspondence and sent her to my house with Greg there to assist. She only wanted the tv. We did get a taker on the hutch later that night. I had them priced to move and they did! Now to get the kids to move their chosen pieces into their rooms and out of my kitchen hallway!

I spent some time in the afternoon finishing the first gobble. That is going to make the second gobble easier today while I watch the F1 race with Aidan.

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Sunday Stitchers.

The tree will get decorated and the rest of my 'things' will be placed today. We also need to go run to my FIL's house again and check the floor for something we noticed Friday. I'm hoping I don't have to go but we will see.

Then it is back to normal schedule - kids back to school and their busy schedules and me back to work. I did book a week up in Vermont for after Christmas with the kids to see my parents. Greg booked a summer cruise to Alaska for the family. We've always wanted to go and since we'll have one in college next year, it was time to do it! I might have hit some of the Black Friday sales for a new travel case for me. I got the foldie bag to fit under the seat when we fly. My current under the seat bag is one from 2005 from when I went to Ireland. We will see how it works next month.

Feeling like a furniture store....

Friday, after the F1 Sprint qualifying, (1:45) we headed over to my FIL's house as Greg and I wanted to grab a few things of his for our house before we donate the rest. We needed kid lifting labor, so they had to go and we needed the truck, which Emily drives to school. She drove the truck over with her Dad and I drove my CRV with Aidan. It's about 50 minutes away from us. Greg and I have been going through things the last few times we've gone over but told the kids if there is anything they want, to grab it. Aidan's comment, 'this is really weird'. Yup, it is. His next thought, 'OMG - Grandma's is going to be horrible to go through! She needs to wait until Emily and I have places of our own!' Grandma has nice antiques. I'll let him tell her that!

Aidan grabbed a nativity set and the kids grabbed a nice Craftsman set of sockets. They know they are getting 'Papa Andy's' tools eventually and there is enough for a set for both of them from Grandma's house. 

Greg and I wanted to grab his big TV and the tv stand to swap out ours. There is also an old library table that is over 100 years old that Greg's Grandmother refurbished from an old library in Ohio. We had Emily look at Tom's dresser and mirror. She likes light wood, but we said it could be refinished and painted. It is made well, as opposed to the one she has now. She opted to take it and will work on finishing it off to her liking. Aidan was eyeing Tom's desk (Greg said it was probably his as a kid!) as he doesn't like his current one and this one has drawers and room to put things. That came home with us as well.

We figured we left the lighter things so Greg and I could do them in the car and took the tv in the car, and the stand and dresser and mirror in the truck. Came home and unloaded.

It was close to 5PM and I was hungry and did not want turkey leftovers. We set the tv up and realized, the remote was left at Tom's house. Well, the kids said we could go back and get it and the remainder of things and eat on the way (thank you Cracker Barrel). After some indecision (do it Sunday or finish it Friday), we got it done. Had a nice dinner and then it was a quick load of the truck, the car got the 3 boxes of things we brought back with papers and photo's to be in the house when we bug bombed it last Sunday and headed home. It was around 8PM at that point, so a 6 hour job! 

Kids are heading to Grandma's house today to help her decorate for Christmas after Aidan watches the sprint race at 9AM. He said something about a Football game to watch over there....

Greg will head to his Dad's today to look at something we noticed that needs attention and I'm hoping I get to stay home and sew and finish decluttering so I can put Christmas stuff out. I lost my top of the tv to put things so I need to rethink where things will go this year! I have a feeling I'm going to have to go though, so we will see.

The library table, is going to replace the half banquet table with the printer in my office. I see puzzles on the other half maybe... That is the back, there is a drawer in the front.

The mirror is in great shape for the new dresser for Emily.

from the left, Emily's dresser, my old tv hutch with tv that I need to list for sale or leave out by the road, the new desk for Aidan.

The new tv and tv stand. The light wood does completely change that area from the black hutch. 

Aidan says the tv is too big. The picture on it is awesome, I watched The Grinch last night on Prime. I'm thinking he will change his mind after watching his race. Emily says it will take him until at least January to get used to it. He is not good with change!

I did start the Gobble Gobble yesterday during the qualifying for the sprint. Hope to finish the first gobble during the race today. These are the kids ornaments from Grandma this year. Emily got a color guard one with a flag and Aidan got a F1 race car. It's actually the 2008 one... the year he was born!

 

Black Friday

 

Since I have not been stitching... I figured I'd share some quilts and paintings I have hanging up!

I did snap one photo of the kitchen island with all the food yesterday with Grandma filling her plate. We had all the normal things - turkey, mashed potato, stuffing, gravy and cranberry relish. Grandma added green beans, rolls and sweet potato casserole. We put out olives and pickles as well. 

When putting things away, I have a ball jar of maple syrup, which I got out for her casserole topping she makes. For some reason, she grabbed that and put the black olives in it! This one will be remembered for a long time! Olives in maple syrup! She was almost on the floor laughing when she realized what she did!

We did not continue the Domino's game from Sunday. Instead, Aidan picked Skip-Bo. We did need a refresher on the rules but played a couple of rounds. Aidan won them both....... makes you go hmmmmm on that one! 

I finally hung up my Christmas Cactus in the kitchen/living room wall. It took days to find that quilt or it would have been up sooner.

The Christmas Cardinals is hanging on the wall in my office behind my desk.

This is the half wall my desk is against - I like looking at my paintings I did at Painting with a Twist over the years. My favorite is the one in the middle! I do still use an old school calendar - and have next years already. My cousin is a great photographer and she has a calendar out with photos from around Vermont that will be hanging there next year. 

After Grandma left and everyone had 'quiet time', I was going to take Bear for a walk. I asked everyone and Emily said she's go and she walked him. She doesn't let him sniff like I do and ran with him a few times to get his energy out. We had a cool front go through Thursday, and the temps were in the 60's which was lovely. This morning it was 40 degrees at 6:30 when I woke up. Everyone is still sleeping. the dog has been out back twice, and then went back to bed with someone. 

I'm thinking of making some muffins - thinking cranberry orange as I still have some cranberries I did not put in the cranberry relish. Then the tree needs ornaments added to it. We will pop to my FIL's house today and grab a few more things with the kids and the truck to bring to our house, then the rest will be donated to various charities to clear it out. I have not done my 'normal' living room decorating yet, since I am swapping my tv and hutch out to the one from my FIL's place. I'll need to find new places to put things, as I'm losing my top shelf where I normally place some things. 

I never go near stores today, I am not a crowds person! 

Hoping to get some sewing time in later today.... more bear paws need to get made.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

I did manage to finish off the quilt fixing, got it washed and delivered late Tuesday evening. Yesterday was cleaning the house up after I finished working. This morning, the turkey innards are cooking on the stovetop for the stuffing. The bird is in the fridge waiting to get stuffed and popped into the oven. My MIL is coming over today and I'm sure some games will be played. We went over Sunday for a game afternoon and played Phase 10, then started Dominos. We are up to double 4's I believe. We will continue that this afternoon. 

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Trains?

 Excuse the mess. We were rearranging furniture to put the tree up (Emily built it in under 3 minutes!). That chair is broken (unfixable) and headed to the dump on Wednesday when they are open next. It was in Gregs area. We put the other recliner from the set in his room and the other chair went into my master bedroom where Ollie has claimed it as his. Now my living area is less cluttered with chairs! 

I mentioned I wanted the train out this year as it has been a while since we have had it under the tree. After I pointed out the box with the train stuff in it, Emily got to work. It was Bear's first time seeing the train and he got good and nosing it off the track,but she was training him with treats to leave it alone. He is afraid of anything 'new' so it was fun to see his reaction.  He was exhausted after all the train play with the kids and snoozed hard last night after we turned it off. 

I made the mistake of taking out my 9.6 pound turkey out of the zero freezer (hubbys idea and I wasn't thinking!) last Thursday. Yup, was defrosted fully by Sunday night and needed to be cooked! Sigh. After Emily's annual physical Monday after I got done work, (4PMish) I cooked an unstuffed bird (well, parsley, onion and rosemary were inside) Monday night with mashed potato and stuffing. I was lazy and didn't do gravy for the meal and used one I bought at Sams, a Kinders Turkey gravy. Yuck! I made gravy after with the turkey drippings for open turkey sandwiches for lunch today. I tossed the other carton of the gravy. No one liked it. So, I did get another 10 pound bird (Publix had them 49 cents a pound so $5 for a 10 pound turkey!) that I took out of the freezer Monday night and should be perfect for cooking on Thursday! 

I seal a mealed the legs and one thigh as one packet for the freezer and another packet of the carcass for soup making later, also in the freezer. The second breast was held for lunches today with the last wing. Any leftovers will get sealed this afternoon. Much cheaper for Turkey

 breast this way!

Repairing a quilt

 

Thursday I finally pulled out this quilt that I said I'd repair for a friends daughter. It is a weighted purchased quilt that is very worn on the edges. I did get permission to cut it but keep the middle intact if I can. One edge was worse than the other so I had to cut about 4-5 inches off one end. I used some of that to patch a part on the other edge that was a u shape torn out completely. The backside along the edges has a lot of wear, so I decided to do a large new binding in brown. I cut strips at 4.5 inches and sewed the 1/4 inch on the front and am hand piecing the back so that it is covering up the worst of the shredding of the fabric. I'll go back after and check for holes, there are a few holes and tears on the front that I can patch with the part I cut off. I think a few stitches here and there on the back will fix the rest. I had hoped to get this back to them late this week, but I've been so tired at night it is ridiculous! I'm falling asleep on the couch around 7 or 8PM! I think it is the new medicine I started on Monday. Hopefully it will get better in a week or so.

I'll be working on adding some stitches to this today, between picking up the house and changing it over to Christmas. Hubby did just vacuum for me (didn't move stuff but vacuumed around things), while I dusted and changed out some quilts on the walls and put the fall/halloween things away. 

I will pop down to the farmers market and get real tasting tomatos and cukes and whatever else looks good in season down here. I started the morning watching the F1 qualifying with Aidan, which happened late last night in Las Vegas. The race is late tonight - 11 or midnight I think. We will see if I am awake for that or not.

Mid Week

 I know it's been a week since I posted last. Just busy. Saturday Emily and I were up early to go help set up the Wizzarding event for a few hours across town. The event was all day on Sunday - we left home at 7:30 and got home around 6:30 that night. Emily got 12 hours of volunteering time as she worked both the morning with littles and afternoon with the older girls and helped pick up after. She needs 100 volunteer hours in her program to graduate. She is around the mid 60 range now with working the weekend at Sisters Retreat and this event for 27 hours. 

I have added some stitches to Gobble Gobble and then sketched out the wording onto a block page so I can see it better. I'll start stitching that later today.

I picked up a bug over the weekend (lots of littles and I know one adult went there both days not feeling well.... Arrghh). I took Tuesday off and slept until 11AM. Might have been that or a new medicine I started Monday. Better today! Off to work I go.

Veterans day

 First off, Thank you to all Veterans who have served their nation. My hubby was in the Air Force back in the early 90's.

I made some progress on gobble gobble. Time to add more brown to the turkey.

I started November 2nd adding one of these a day. All caught up and I'll add a teal one today.

I picked up the girl a couple hours earlier than expected yesterday. Since the government is shut down, they were unable to do one of the museums on the last day as it was a national one. She had a great time and enjoyed peace and quiet in her room for a bit. We had temps around 32 this morning, and she took me up on my offer to start her truck for her 10 minutes before she left for school at 6:40. The boy declined my offer about 40 minutes later when he left. No frost, so it was just cool outside.

 I have the day off, and plan to add bear paw blocks and look at 'fixing' a quilt for a friend. It needs a new binding and there is some damage. I think I need to cut off a little from the top and bottom, use that to 'fix' a few areas with applique and then add a new binding. 

Greg had mentioned Mexican Skillet as a meal a few times, so I let him make it last night while I went to get Emily. I did pull everything out he needed including the recipe. 

The kids found this one years ago and liked it, so we added it to the rotation. It only take 20-30 minutes depending on if you use chicken in a can or raw chicken. I need to start picking a recipe from a cookbook and try them out! 

I'm thinking zucchini boats tonight or taco's using ground chicken instead of beef. I'm sure I'll get push back on that swap. Both kids are late tonight - Emily made the JV Winter Guard team and has practice until 7 and Aidan has an Academic Club meet across town, so will be home later this evening. Not as late as last night - he was helping at an event as an Ambassador for the school. Got home around 9PM. 

Off to walk the dog, who enjoys these cooler temps we are having for a few days.

Sunday stitching.

 It is a quiet morning at my house. Well, other than the neighbor across the street playing weird music before 7AM that woke me up! Sigh. Better than the 2AM it used to be but this is the second Sunday this has happened. Deep breath, I am enjoying the quiet house all to myself with some coffee and catching up on blog reading.

I have been stitching up a Hexagon each day this week (except Friday and Saturday as I was too busy doing cross stitch! Oops) I'll just whip up 3 of them today! Once these are prepped, the stitching goes quickly. I will plan to prep a few more of these today. Sometimes I feel like working a certain color and all I have right now are blue/teal prepped.

The gobble gobble I started on Tuesday has been taking most of my time. This is a free pattern from Melissa who is so kind to make and share her talents with us. I transferred the pattern to a block sheet as it was easier for me to read that way. 

The bulky quilt addition of circles has not finished, but I will get the last 5 done today. I'd like to move the String of Beads quilt to a completed top stage. I'll probably do these during the F1 race in Brazil today. It was quite a Sprint race yesterday. 

Hand quilting - I have neglected the quilt in the frame as I did not like my choice for quilting on it. It came to me this week, I really want to do a Baptist fan pattern on it. I'm just going to free hand it I think (Yes, I'm too lazy to create the pattern although I might change my mind on that too!) I do need to take out the quilting I have done on a few of the blocks first. 

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Sunday Stitchers. The drizzle rain has ended at my house and the sun is bright and shining. A last 'warm' day before we get a freeze warning tomorrow night in Florida. It does happen and I'll enjoy grabbing out my jeans and sweater to be cozy! It will warm back up later in the week to our 'normal' temps. I am really enjoying these cooler weather systems that keep dipping down to us. 

Somehow I have 3 days off in the middle of the week, so hubby and I will attempt to tackle his Dad's house a bit. It needs to be cleared out, cleaned and then someone to do some plumbing work and painting outside so we can list it for sale eventually.  He is extremely happy in the assisted living quarters closer to us. He has his own room and things, they do his medicines, meals, cleaning and laundry and check on him throughout the day and help in the bathroom and dressing if needed. He is quite content for a 90 year old man. 

I forgot - I also need to make some wands for a Wizarding event next weekend! Oops. I guess I will be drizzling hot glue onto chopsticks today as well. Then I'll go grab some spray paint and get them colored up for next Sunday's event. Emily was planning to do it, but I ordered the wrong glue sticks for our hot glue gun. 

Taking stock RSC

 It was time to open the bins that hold the RSC blocks and see where things are at.

The alternate BITA blocks (the hst's are swapped and made a fun pattern so I kept making them!)

I see I am missing some colors. I think I'll keep making these in 2026.

The sixteen patches with 2.5 inch squares. Always nice to have on hand for a quick quilt.

The string of beads blocks have 5 more green circles that need to get added. I'll work on those this weekend during F1 races - a Sprint race today and the main race tomorrow.

Linking up to the RSC on Saturday.

Some progress on the Gobble Gobble from Melissa at Pinker n Punkin Quilts. So exciting when it starts to look like something!

Emily is on her Civil Rights Trip. They got stuck in traffic yesterday with a cotton something overturned on the highway and had to cut one of their stops out. She is having fun and shared a short video of the bus all singing along to a song last night. 

At school Friday, there was a surprise visit from a Food Network star. Aidan was hoping for Alton Brown (whom none of his friends knew!) but it was Duff Goldman - the cake guy! Aidan is friends with the person in charge and got asked to meet him and then got to listen to his presentation. He also brought a French chef from WEC (World Equestrian Center) and it was an inspiring speech. I was told I had the Food Network on a lot when he was a kid, so he remembers all the old chef's. I think I put that on as it was a kid friendly show and was good background noise! He is off to a Ted Talk at a local High School for most of the day today. 

Duff and Aidan.

The start of Bear Paw Wanderings... Bear Tracks in the woods?

 Not sure that either name will stick, but I did show Aidan a non-traditional bear paw setting that I'd like to try and he is considering it. He can't picture it with his colors, so once I get a few made we'll test it out.

I know I didn't want tiny ones, as he indicated his quilt is for 'after college' so a bigger size is needed - double bed size. 

I found this pattern at FQ shop for a finished 6 inch single paw and a 14 inch finished standard block. Better than the much smaller ones I have in my books. That should help with the amount of blocks needed!

I showed him some arrangements from this page where I pulled these photo's from. This is the layout they called Bear Tracks. Now picture it in civil war type fabrics of cream, green and blues.

As opposed to a more standard layout... although I really like this RSC type scrappy one!

I really liked this one as well with the different sizes.

and the chain in this one is nice too. I love the little touch of color at the middle of each block by the sashing.

The girl was dropped off to school before 6AM this morning for her school trip to a few neighboring states to learn about the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. Shout out to the 9 teachers taking 90 students under their care for the next 5 days. 

Time to go make some cuts into the fabric and see if I can get some paws made today.