Hoarfrost - binding time...

 Hoarfrost is #20 on my Winter 2023 UFO list. I was able to get it pinned and quilted last weekend. I finally trimmed it on Thursday and cut some blue strips to make the binding. I need to sew the strips together today and then press it and attach to the top of this quilt so I can hand stitch it to the back. It is a cloudy and dreary day in Florida. I think it might be a movie and binding afternoon.

Since this is blue... I'm linking up to the RSC. I hope to play with some blues this weekend. Maybe some crumb blocks? Scrappy log cabins. We will see what the fabrics decide they want to become!

Wednesday Embroidery - Frosty McChill #2 is done!

 I was busy stitching away Tuesday night listening to my audiobook as I finished the stitching on this little guy. I am not happy with the snowflakes, but I figure I'll get better at them by the time I am working on the last one!

#1 was Let it Snow.

#2 is Sled Time.

I have the 3rd one traced and ready to go!

 

Quiltfiction quilt along.

I enjoyed doing the Hand Pieced Quilt Along with Patty Dudek and Kristin Esser in the past. There is not a stitch along with them this year, but Patty is doing one with Frances O'roark Dowell called Loves Me, Loves Me Not over at QuiltFiction.com. 

 

Breadmaking and books

 I tried a new multigrain bread recipe yesterday and it came out wonderfully! Very yummy and used up some grains we had in the house that I didn't know how to use! We have a 48 ounce can of 6 grain rolled cereal. It contains red wheat, rye, oats, barley, triticale and white wheat. I used 1/2 a cup of it along with 4 cups of flour to make this bread. I'll have to try it as a hot cereal and see how it is.

Sorry, we kinda cut into it before I got a photo! This is my second slice =) 

I was not ready in time for the clean out the crisper spring minestrone soup I made for lunch Sunday. Instead of butternut squash in the autumn recipe, I used zucchini, so I call it a spring soup. I have my lunches for the week and I'll make another batch of this bread mid week or when it is close to being gone. It will be interesting to see if the kids will eat it. They are a wee bit picky! I just need to remember to use the proofing button on the oven for the rising.

I've listened to a few audiobooks the last week or two. I listen to them in the car while driving to get the kids or while waiting. If the book is really good, I have my ear buds in listening while I make dinner and sometimes while stitching at night. I usually have it playing on my phone while quilting as well. 

I started off the year with 'The Last Thing He Told Me' by Laura Dave. This was a really good book. I didn't want to stop listening to it and finished it in 2 days! 

I have been listening to the coffeehouse mystery series by Cleo Coyle. I read Shot in the Dark and currently am halfway through Dead Cold Brew.  

I listened to Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley - the Kat Holloway series. I love this series and wish they had more books available on my Libby app. I might have to switch to another audio app to 'read' the newer books in the series. This one is located in historical England.

Another author is Anna Lee Huber - who has a mystery series in England featuring Verity Kent, around the end of the first world war. 'This Side of Murder' was the first book and 'Treacherous is the Night' is the second book. I am waiting for the 3rd book to become available. 

The kids noted that I tend to call the dog 'laddie' when I am listening to the british books! 

Slow Sunday Snowmen

It is a very chilly start to the morning here in Florida. Both cats were snuggling up around my stomach. Yesterday was a hip day! It was 29 degrees F when I got up this morning. I forgot to bring in the herbs. Oops. The thyme will come back but the basil and parsley are gone. One more day of freezing temps overnight before we warm up to the 80's by mid week.

I finally finished the knitted dish cloth. Yes, it looks wonky, and you can tell where I had the needles poked through. It will be washing dishes... so it really does not matter how it looks! 

I am going to try and get out of my comfort zone and crochet a few of these this year. I am thinking trying one new pattern each month. I have a pretty skein of green to try this Farm House Washcloth by Mama in a Stitch. She calls this a crocheted spider stitch.

 I finished off the first Frosty McChill offered for free by Melisa at Pinker and Punkin Quilting. He is so darn cute! I will start stitching on the second one today.

Yesterday was a sit and do not much of anything day! I took Emily to horses and I had plans to prep and pin my Hoarfrost quilt for quilting. Somehow, I ended up in my recliner with a dog holding me down (keeping me warm) for most of the afternoon! It was chilly.... the car said 48 degrees at 12:30 after horses! Grandma is picking up the kids today and then taking them to see the new Avatar movie that is out. I asked if they had seen the first one.... nope! Emily watched it Saturday after lunch in her room on her phone with Disney +. Silly girl came out and asked if I wanted to watch a good but long movie. Sure... she put it on and I asked her to let her brother know. He came out of his room and watched it with me. 2h41 minutes later - a really good movie! He then put on a F1 race from the 2021 season. It was at Sochi where Hamilton won his 100th race!  Teenagers - occasionally come out of their rooms to interact with the rest of the family!

Today, I plan to try a new bread recipe. Hubby had purchased some staples years ago from a long term storage type company. I took an inventory of the boxes of #10 cans a few weeks ago. I have used some of them. The cornmeal is used when I make cornbread. I have gone through the rolled oats and white rice. I was surprised there was one more rice can in there! I pulled the pinto beans and tried them in my insta pot. They turned out pretty good. Can't say I have ever had pinto beans before .... other than already prepped as refried beans! I tossed the black beans. They had been opened for a long time and did not soften when cooked. I have an unopened can of 16 beans... that was good with soups. I went through the other can already. I guess I had 2 cans of that. This one is unopened. We have ground some wheat to make flour. I found some 'rolled' 6 and 9 grain cracked cereals. I am going to pull the 6 grain one and try making this bread today. We will see how it turns out!

 I asked Emily to help plan the meals this week since no one ate what I cooked last week! They make their own things! Sigh. Those pinto beans made into a version of refried beans were ok with my taco meat and salads during the week. This is what she came up with.

Monday is steaks on the grill with grilled veggies. I pulled steak from the freezer yesterday so it would be thawed. It was in the Zero freeze one. Aidan will be my griller.

Tuesday when the kids are back to school, it will be chicken enchillada's and rice. This will use the sour cream that needs to be used!

Wednesday is 'Emily's Favorite' - which is a roasted veggie pasta with italian sausage. We roast zucchini, mushrooms, peppers and onion in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes, turning halfway.

Thursday will be meatloaf and potato and a veggie. Unless there are lots of leftovers! 

Fridays tend to be pizza. 

I'll pop out and grab the veggies at Aldi's later today or tomorrow. Since we are all off work - I am hoping to get Hoarfrost pinned today and machine quilting tomorrow. We will see how that goes!

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Stitchers.

RSC in blues

 I got a little time to sew this week! I have seen lots of pretty split nine patch blocks over the years and decided to make some this year. I think I'll dig a little farther into the blue box and make some more of these.

I sewed up the kites from last week and might make a couple more of these as well. I do love how easy these are to make with the dies.

I have had these extra quarter square triangles leftover from the Sweet Confetti blocks just sitting around and waiting in a basket next to my sewing machine. I was able to use some 2 inch white strips to make the flying geese wings with my ruler. I sewed these together, but I might take them apart and pop them into groups of 2 instead and see what will happen to them once all of them are sewn into geese. I'm thinking a nice little wall hanging or some placemats?

Linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday.

Wednesday Embroidery

 I have made progress on Frosty McChill #1 but he is not quite finished yet. I have been working on him at car line the last 2 days. Thanks for the tip on the Frixion pen - I had one in green that worked to trace it out. I have the next 2 all set to start once this one is finished. 

Monday night was scouts/guitar for the kids and some shopping after scouts was done. Tuesday night was a high school orientation, and we all went to check out the electives at the high school Emily was interested in. The dog did good alone last night. We fed him at 3PM when we went to get the kids and got home around 7PM. He was happy to go out back and run around a bit with the kids when we got home. Today hubby has a birthday. Kids both have after school activities so a later pickup. Just a typical Wednesday around here!