Sunday, Sunday

 I was hoping to have 2 bindings to be stitching down today.....and I will eventually. I am waiting on someone to press the second binding so I can attach it. 

I managed to add some simple squiggle line quilting on the stars and nine quilt on Thursday. I added the binding on yesterday. This is a little 36x38 size.

Yesterday I simple quilted the 16 patch blocks and made the binding...just waiting on someone to press it. I went ahead and did the first one but figured I'd get issues if I did both of them. I'll be hand stitching them down today. This one finishes at 32x 40. Both will be sent off to a charity for Hands2Help as baby quilts.

A little progress on the little basket quilting. I pulled out the stencil to mark the middle squares.... just not sure what will end up there yet. It should be done for the Table Scrap link up next weekend.

We have been getting lots of rain in some rain storms the last few days. The pool got to about an inch below the top rim so that got drained out yesterday a bit. We are scheduled for another 4-5 inches of rain for the next couple of days. Thinking we might need to build a boat soon!

The kids and I were up late last night. I had found a brownie recipe on Tasty 101 (Hulu or Youtube) that looked oh so yummy and uses 6 eggs. Yes, always trying to find recipes to use up eggs! They are little 6 minute bits on how to make things so we were watching different ones. We might have to try the pasta one as well! I went out to get ingredients last night for the brownies and plan to make it today.

Emily got her birthday shopping trip in with Grandma after horses yesterday so both get to head to Grandma and Papa Andy's house today for the day. I'm probably on pick up duty. I had picked up bacon and popped it in the freezer when I got home but asked Aidan to pull it for the fridge late last night (he was in the kitchen!) and he asked for the sausage you cut instead and Emily said - Dad's sausage gravy!. We had some so that got put in the fridge instead. I'm just waiting for them to all wake up so they can make my breakfast! I do love Sundays.

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Stitchers.

Thursday Catch Up

 It has been a busy morning so far. Kids were dropped to school. Then I stopped on the way home and picked some blueberries at Ashbier Farms. I tried the Farthing this year - they were the first 6 rows and I am trying to be good to my ankle which is not hurting so far today! They taste just like the ones I remember picking on the point up in Vermont when I was growing up. Sweet but not too sweet. I think I will try and make blueberry jam today with some of them. I picked 3.5 pounds at $4 a pound. 

I'll be heading back with the kids at some point... and maybe next Thursday morning as well. I freeze them on cookie sheets and then pop them into quart freezer bags. I might try a blueberry pie this year too with the next batch.

Then I tilled the garden between the rows. It needed it. The garden is producing pretty well this year - I guess the added chicken fertilizer is helping with the very sandy soil we have. We enjoyed some swiss chard and fresh peas with dinner of Risotto last night. I had to make a double batch (2 cups of arborio rice to start) and there was ONE spoonful left. One! I guess my family really likes it. I was planning pork chops with it but 2 of them said they were happy with just the rice so that was dinner! Tonight - will be chops on the grill and leftover grilled veggies I think. I do have to pop to Aldi today to get milk and creamer and 'snacks'. Snack are their fruit and grain bar and granola bars. Seems I have been out all week and it is causing issues with packing lunches! Asparagus is on sale so that might get added to the mix for dinner. My green beans should be ready for their first pick tomorrow - they are purple =). The beets are looking great and I picked the last of the radishes so I'll plant another row of them. Looks like the tarragon, basil, cilantro and a little parsley is coming up. Nothing from the dill. The spinach got picked and is being part of my mushroom and spinach omelette in the mornings. Emily's rows of carrots are looking good as well. She grows them for horse treats!

I did a little sewing last night and got the 16 patches sewn into a top. This will be 32x40 - perfect size for one of the hands2help charities. 

I also sewed the churn dashes into rows of 7. I just picked them up and sewed so who know's how it will look ... I had laid them out last night but it looks like the cats were unhappy with the look and decided to move things around a bit in the night.

I'd better get my shower done so I can go shopping and then I get sewing time! I hope to pin and simple quilt the 2 colorful charity ones today. Hope was the key word in that sentence!

Wednesday....

 Hand work does not really show much progress very quickly! I just got out of a 2 hour meeting where I was able to do some pinning and some hand stitching.

My sets of two are now 2 sets of 8! I have 2 more sets of 2 that need to be made into a row for the bottom. Potentially 3 more seams to pin and sew and I'll have a top! 

Lazy Sunday......

 Well, it was a lazy start around 9AM. Seems everyone turned over and went back to sleep after being woken up at 4:30AM with thunder storm number 1 and then again around 7:30 with storm number 2.

We called off Grandma/Emily shopping birthday day as storm#3 was to be heavy rain and wind about the time Grandma was to drive up to us. It was a good call as the heavy rain started around 10 and has been off and on heavy to light rain with thunder for almost 3 hours now.

We (you know that We Mom? Greg was the We this time!) cooked a briscuit on the smoker yesterday until the 4:30PM storm had us bring it inside and cover the smoker - it has the thermostat as electric and water and electric don't mix. It had done the smoking portion already so we finished it in the oven on low. Around 7PM.... it was oh so yummy to 'taste test' it. It will be warmed up for a late lunch today. I have white bread about ready to go in the oven and potato's bubbling in water for a potato salad. Greg boiled up 20 eggs yesterday (coming out our ears they are... but I got a few dozen sold for next Saturday's horse lesson at the stables!) so that portion of the potato salad is done.

It was a lazy start watching America's Test Kitchen Season 17 on Amazon Prime. I got a couple of Hexagons stitched and have 11 done this month. I prepped enough for the week yesterday so they are easy to grab to stitch and quilt in the evenings. 

I'll be resting up my ankle today with some hand stitching and a movie. Some work to finish off stitching this flowering snowball block and I have one more prepped and ready to stitch. That will give me a good amount for a little throw.

Then I'll add some stitches into the basket table topper.

I turned my ankle about a week ago and took it easy but overdid it on my walk Thursday night. Then was up on it way too much yesterday with horses - walking to the outdoor arena, then around Lowes with Aidan, then planting and walking around the yard. Of course.... I have been up on it today too - prepping the potato salad and making bread and cleaning up the kitchen. Let's just say I can feel it so it will be up on a pillow for the afternoon! Maybe I'll even have time to get the twosies of the Endless Diamonds into foursies!.

Linking up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

RSC in Blue

 I have been working on adding a sashing strip to these old churn dash blocks. There are around 70 of them if I remember correctly. The pile at the bottom is a lot smaller than when I started! 

I have the first 9 Hexagon QAYG completed and need to cut out more backing fabrics for the next set and prep them for stitching.

This is the back. I decided to use some blue quilting thread on these and I love how it shows on the back. I think I will try and add some color on the back of some to add some fun for the back of the quilt when they are stitched together.

I made a yellow stars and nine so I could sew these remaining blocks together for a quilt top this week. Just a simple nine patch and friendship star using 2.5 inch squares. So simple but so fun! This top is 36x48.

A little quilting has been added to the basket table topper.

With a rainy day day tomorrow, I hope to get a lot of sewing in on my blue block collections.

Linking up with the RSC on Saturday.

A little sewing on a Thursday

Would you believe that #17 on my Spring UFO list decided it wanted attention before anything else?

 I needed a yellow stars and nines block to finish off the size. I managed to pull from the yellow bucket and get that block created this morning. I need to double check the size requirement for Little Lambs.... suggested size of 36x42 per size. Hmmm. Mine would be 36x48.... I'm guessing that it would work to be slightly bigger by 6 inches. I'm planning to add a soft flannel cotton backing and simple wiggle quilting. We will see if it becomes a scrappy binding or a solid one... when I am ready to quilt it. 

During a Zoom girl scout leader meeting last night - I cut a slew of light blue fabric hexagons, some batting hexagons and the backing hexagons and pinned the middle in place. I did the rest of the pinning last night after a yummy cheesecake desert while watching an episode of NCIS. Three got stitched and the rest are waiting their turn.

I took a break and decided to weed the front flower bed of weeds so I can plant it this weekend. The ants need to settle down a bit before I do anything else out there. It was time to think about making some lunch. Potato Leek Soup worked!  I just grabbed a few tbsp of butter and melted that and added 2 leeks cut up with some salt and pepper. Then I cut up some potato - I had red on hand - and dumped that in. A little more salt and a box of chicken stock. I added a little heavy cream we had in the fridge leftover from the cheesecake and brought it up to a bubble to cook the potato.  I added some cheddar cheese to my bowl of it. Simple but yummy!

While I was in the sewing room - I cut out a stack of 1.5x6.5 sashing strips to be added to the stack of churn dashes. 

Time for a shower and then an errand to pick up some pellets for the pellet grill. I might have picked up a flat briscuit from Sams yesterday and we will put it on the smoker grill this weekend and see how it comes out! A first time for us. Aidan always orders it from Pig and Cattle so we figured we'd give it a try ourselves. I should have a little over an hour to sew this afternoon before heading to pick up the kids from school. I'm guessing I can get the first one to a top and hope to get a way's through the stack of churn dashes. The plan is to add a sashing to one side. Sew them together into rows. Then use a long strip to join the rows. I think it will work. This one is also planning to be donated for Hands 2 Help.

Happy Birthday Emily!

I'm not sure how 12 years have gone by so quickly. It seems like just yesterday I had this little girl..... with all that curly hair!

Has now turned into this pre-teen who is responsible, organized and smart!

 

Happy 12th Birthday Emily!