Along The Way...

I've learned a LOT along the way while the wrist is healing. Time doesn't slow down, or stop, when one's casted. Nope, it's business as usual. Augie turned eleven months old on Wednesday! He's my best snuggle buddy and resting companion when I need that. I can tell when I've done enough for the day and it's time to lay low. Fine motor skills are slowly returning and strengthening, (I can pinch the clips together on a skirt hanger again, type on a keyboard and manage a fork to eat) gross motor skills remain good and are less painful each day (handling the vacuum cleaner, walking the dog and gently stirring or scooping with a spatula). All those crazy little mindless actions that we're used to doing countless times each day now demand respect and a level of determination. These two products have been game changers for my daily routine! This cast cover is truly waterproof and easy to put on and take off by myself. I found that I couldn't manage a regular blow dryer and round brush, the dryer was too heavy, it was impossible and frustrating. A friend recommended a hairdryer/brush combination. It is lightweight, easy to maneuver with one hand, and does a great job of drying and styling at the same time, which makes it an enormous time-saver; win-win! Who knew? To be honest, the hardest time of day for me has been getting ready first thing (showering, doing hair, dressing myself); it's easier with these two items but I'm still rejoicing after those tasks are completed and ready to tackle anything else! 😉 One-week-after X-rays revealed the cracked bone remaining in alignment, it's all good. Three more weeks of being casted, you can believe that I'm counting the days!

To pass the time I have organized my embroidery floss by brand and type. Something I have wanted needed to do but never wanted to stop and take the time to accomplish. Now it's done.

Our Stitch Club met here and this fella thought that Quiltkeemosabe's tote bag made the most comfortable bed. They came bearing books and magazines which have been great to peruse this past week while I'm healing; such a welcome way to while away a few hours. 

The kitchen re-do project continues with backsplash. We loved this herringbone pattern, the tiles are 1" X 3". Apparently they're a BEAR to cut. 😬

But they sure are pretty up on the wall. Grouting and sealing happen will next.

We had our two grandchildren last weekend. 

Gregory did a fine job as a stand-in acolyte at church.

In an effort to do less physical activities we watched movies together Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon; it's a BIG challenge to find something that an almost 13 year old and an nearly 11 year old haven't seen before, but is also is appropriate and grabs their interest. These were all good ones! I've got more to share in the next few days. I hope to try some machine piecing over this weekend and may get back to the longarm too; we'll see. Life moves on, a day at a time, and if we're lucky we learn new things along the way; it's all good.

Life is Good!

Turning Pages from Here to There

We've only just returned from a road trip to visit family. I have been so very far behind in my reading that I gladly grabbed the seat time to catch up. I finished Good Hope Road (which, incidentally, I had begun in February!), this was a sweet story of a young woman and an odd assortment of townspeople that chronicled the aftermath of a natural disaster and concluded on a hopeful note. I completed a second book on this trip too, My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry. These were both wonderful reads; I just love Backman. I had read his Bear Town the summer before last and have another of his, Britt-Marie Was Here, on reserve at the local library when it comes in. My Grandmother... was such an imaginative tale, it completely swept me up and carried me along for the ride, it's one I won't soon forget. With any luck, I hope to return to *D.E.A.R. time in the afternoons this summer. My biggest problem is that there's too much to do and not enough time to get it all done... anyone else? 😉 What's on your reading list?

* Drop Everything And Read

Life is Good!

In, and Under, the Weather

Since my last post was about winter storm Izzy, I thought it appropriate to continue the weather theme. This time, though, is my report from crawling out on the other side after being under the weather. Suffice it to say that there's been a LOT of reading done over the last few days, I hadn't the energy for anything else. Each one of these reads were good; very good. The Children's Blizzard is one of historical fiction, dealing with the blizzard of the Great Plains in January of 1888, happening unexpectedly on a relatively warm day. Someone who happens to read this blog emailed a few weeks ago to tell me that her grandfather lived through this event! This is a brutal retelling of the occurrence and its aftermath; made even more so when one realizes that it actually occurred, this one will stay with me. The character development in both Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe and Stars of Alabama is rich and compelling. Interestingly, and completely coincidental, is the fact that I read these back to back and they both take place in small towns in Alabama. I recommend all three for great writing and pure escapism. Hopefully I'll be back soon with more from the sewing space, just when I thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, recovery-wise, Mr. G. has managed to come down with the same thing that I have. 

It's a good thing we have nowhere to go, 

we couldn't if we tried.

Life is Good! 

Snowy Sunday

To no one's surprise we awakened to snow on Sunday morning, right on schedule and as forecast! A few hearty souls braved the elements to attend worship; all told, we ended up with about 4 inches before it turned over to sleet. Today we have crusty, icy snow remaining, the roads and driveway are still a mess. We've been warm and dry at home, I finished a book yesterday (will report on this month's books read later on) while cozied up beside the fireplace. With nowhere to go, I'll try and find something to occupy my time at home again today!  😉

Life is Good!

Reading Report

I have been one of the most sporadic bloggers lately, I know that! There are projects afoot and subjects, loads of them, to talk about, that's not the problem; I have no excuses. I hope to post more regularly; the weather's changing and I'm squirreling away books to read in front of the fireplace as the days become shorter and colder. I'd completely gotten away from the D.E.A.R. routine this summer, just got busy with a variety of other things; I really did miss it.

These two were completed in October. I can't say that either one of these were my favorites, but they were both compelling reads, not books that I ever considered abandoning by any means, I was eager to finish them both. What's currently parked beside your reading chair? I have a few "to read" lists in progress and, like the bushy tailed hoarder above, I'm already laying in my supply for the months to come. If you can add suggestions to my list, I'm all ears.

Life is Good!

Late August Wrap-Up

I had a friend ask me the other day of I was ever going to post again; that's how long it's been since I've updated here! Sheesh. It's not that I haven't been doing anything, that would be the simplest explanation; actually, the exact opposite is the case. I'm going to bring the blog up to date, but it will take several posts to accomplish that. At last post, I was pulling blocks-of-the-month out of the stash closet (it just keeps giving... ) and setting them together. I'll pick back up there. This one was called The Chain Gang, it's been aging, like a fine wine, since 2010. Out of the bin and into the light: two blocks needed to bring it to a respectable size. I decided on a straight set and sashed it with a gray fabric that I had left over from another, different, (more recent) block-of-the-month. I found some bright grunge fabrics to use as the cornerstones so that the "chains" would remain unbroken. I had to order more Kona black to finish up the borders after the blocks were completed.

"The Chain Gang" ~ 56" X 72"

So, here we are, eleven years later~ finally at the flimsy stage. Another one to add to the ever-growing "to be quilted" queue! After all these years I've decided to not waste anymore time on this one, even to think of a clever name for it. It will simply be called The Chain Gang, as it was titled originally. 

One more late-August update, our baby turned 41 years old; he graciously hosted us at HIS house this year to celebrate! As the month wound down we've been treated to an absolute abundance of fresh tomatoes from the garden of friends. I needed to find a way to use them up quickly. I found this quick and easy recipe for homemade soup.

Fresh and colorful tomatoes before (l) and after (r) oven roasting. 

This tomato soup is smooth, flavorful and delicious. If you're looking for a use for extra tomatoes you might want to give this recipe a try!

I was able to get in some reading time in August; these two books held my attention for a few weeks. I'm already onto a new book for September which I'm loving, I'll report on that in a future post. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed Picoult's novel, it was a little over the top for me. Berg's "The Confession Club" was a fun and diversionary story which I liked very much; a friend had recommended it to me and I'm so glad that she did!

Elmer the elephant made his way down off the shelf and onto my cutting table while I was stitching up the  last blocks of The Chain Gang. He's good company, sewing is always more fun with friends! Stay tuned, I have lots more to show and tell. I can't believe that we're rocketing our way toward Labor Day already! 

Happy September!

Life is Good!

2020 Round Up

Here's just a sampling of quilts done this year. My guiding word for the year was "VISION". Vision to see clearly: to look at what I had on hand and how I could utilize my stash to make and finish up more quilts. In addition to these (above) I have a sizable queue of  "to be quilteds" ready to go when the much anticipated roll of batting (finally) arrives. 

Early in January I rolled out the die cutter and made piles of neatly cut usable shapes from the scrap basket. I had plenty to work with and utilized much of what is contained in these stacks as the projects were completed and checked off. I'm pleased with what I accomplished. Actually, when I went back to pull pictures from each month I am even a little surprised at how much I got done. The one thing, naturally, that I never saw coming when I chose the word was a pandemic and a stay at home order. That did up the productivity considerably around here. These quilts (above) were the keepers. 

There were also donation quilts. And there were masks...and masks... and masks. Just a few:

There were many other gifts sewn and from-scratch baking was done, my bread machine saw more service this past year than it has in the last five. I did more quilting for friends this year than I've ever done. Reading became a highlight too: D.EA.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time became a precedent in the late afternoon every day. And SEW it continues... right down to the wire as this year comes to a close. I'm still working out of my stash, I will finish up at least one more scrappy donation quilt before the ball drops on New Year's.  I'm already working on carefully choosing a new guiding word for 2021. I hope to be able to equally diligent going forward with that endeavor, it's an exciting prospect. Wish me luck.

Life is Good!

Where Did The Week Go?

We had loads of fun at our granddaughter's outdoor, socially-distanced birthday party last Saturday. She and her friends decoupaged paper mache pumpkins, ate treats and tie-dyed T-shirts! I can't believe that's already been almost a week ago. Time has FLOWN by this week! 

So, where did the rest of this past week go?

This pretty much sums up the week. I'm doing ruler work on a Metro Rings quilt. it's time consuming. but very, very satisfying. It's a BIG quilt, too. I've wanted a longarm work table for some time now, a sliding one that sits on top of the rails and will hold tools (rulers in this case, and a container for thread snippets) above the quilt's surface when doing custom work. I've had my eye on one, but it's expensive. (I've dropped hints to my resident handy-man who one time told me that wouldn't be a hard thing to make!??) In the meantime I am using a sheet of foam core. 

This does the job for now, is lightweight and easy to move, and was FREE (I had it in the closet already!).

And, since man can't live by quilting alone I've been baking buttermilk bread in the bread machine (several loaves a week). This is a great recipe that I am linking here. If you want to make yours in the bread machine like I do, substitute one pre-measured packet of yeast for the TBSP as listed and set your loaf size to 1 lb. 

Since I've been spending so much time in the sewing room I've been watching movies while I quilt; heart-warming, old-fashioned love stories on the Hallmark channel, it's my latest obsession and pure escapism when I need it the most. I've switched off the news and am avoiding social media platforms as much as possible because of the politics and personal agendas. These movies were all good. So is D.E.A.R*. time, I force myself to sit down and read for an hour late in the afternoon every day- this month it's mystery books.

Have you heard about the Stich Pink sewalong? I'm collecting Moda's blocks-of-the-day for October following the "Stitch Pink" initiative. You can subscribe here if you want to keep up this month. 

Here's the final layout, right now I am downloading the block instructions each day and keeping them in a notebook for later. I'm not going to make a pink quilt; but, rather, will do mine in Christmas colors.

It's been a while since I've commented on adapting to the state of our upside down 🙃 world right now. This picture might say it all: yes, it's October and, yes, this one Iris decided that now's the time to bloom. It's not the craziest thing going on this year, not by a longshot. Stay safe, my friends. 

Life is Good!

* Drop Everything And Read

September D.E.A.R.* Report

Here's the rundown for this past month; they were all good, each in their own way-- very different genres. No surprises with the Grisham novel, this one was well done, I thought. Westering Women is another historical fiction winner. I loved Beartown but I do thoroughly enjoy ice hockey and that theme runs throughout in relation to the culture and setting of this story, I'm unsure if that would be a turn-off to anyone that either disliked or didn't understand the sport, possibly.  The Wedding Quilt was a nice follow-up to The Union Quilters which I read last month; this one was of particular interest, however, in that the novel is set in the future and the historical perspectives are woven in as flashbacks. If you're a fan of Elm Creek Quilts novels, picking up one of these books is like reconnecting with old friends! I already have my books lined up for October!  *Drop Everything And Read: between politics and the pandemic some true escapism inside a good book is just what I need right now.

What's on your reading list today?

Life is Good!

Mums The Word...

... well, actually autumn is the word; the chrysanthemums have been planted and there's most definitely been a change in the weather; cooler, breezy days have replaced the heat and humidity for a refreshing new perspective. 

I baked an apple pie this past week from the fruit that I picked while visiting New England the week before. It turned out great, no so with the InstantPot recipe for baked apples that I found. Even though I followed that recipe to the letter (the accompanying photo looked so enticing) the apples EXPLODED! Groan. After fishing all the peel out of the blown-up apple debris, I placed the remaining mush into a strainer; what was salvaged might just have been the best homemade applesauce that we've ever had- making the very best out a complete mess! 

We had a few friends for a socially distanced porch dinner and the kitchen table became a Little Free Lending Library, there was something for everyone. 

The advent of fall marks yet another birthday for me, they just keep coming faster and faster each year!

A new addition to the back of one of the chairs in our bedroom is this Bull's Eye quilt. My mother insisted that I have it. With much encouragement she began piecing it after she had suffered a stroke in 2000, I cheered her on for several years as she gained back dexterity and confidence; after she got that top together (and went on to piece many more) I quilted it for her. Sadly, her macular degeneration has reached the point now where she can no longer sew. Receiving this quilt was bittersweet, but I will treasure it because of all that it represents. I believe that it looks right at home in its new setting! 💗

Life is Good!