Oh, today is a good bloggy day!
I was busy with grandkids and skipped last
week's link-up so this is one of those
"grab a cuppa & settle in" posts, jam-packed
(literally--I made jelly!) with quilt and garden pics,
foodie links and of course, To-Do Lists while linking
AND, I have a new project that I'm pretty
stoked about so really, go grab your coffee.
I'll wait....
<insert jazzy coffee shop music>
.
.
.
.
Okay, here we go!
What did I accomplish?
West Point Quilt
Complete entire inside portion
Done.
The inside portion measured only 38x53 but
it's nothing a few quick borders can't handle...
And now not only do I have a 57 x 71 completed top,
my backing and binding are standing ready as well.
(My sewing room lighting isn't the best for these shots
but the finish pics will reveal a brighter quilt.)
When you see fabric tracking below you'll understand
what finally spurred me on to finish this. (Yikes!)
Positively Fearless
Finish quilting
Yeah, I keep putting this off.
It's really all about being in the right mood.
Mostly.
Teeny Tiny Quilt Club et al
Finish latest mini
Done.
I think this one will be a Christmas gift
(I'm doing very well in that department!)
if I can part with it. I can't seem to take it off
our table. I have plans for a large quilt in the same
colors (maybe even design) but I think I want to
make another one of these minis, too.
Fabric Tracking
I'm not going to beat around the bush here:
I have been very bad. Very.
The short of it is, I need to get some quilts
made up right away.
And now for the long of it:
I scored the above 7 yards with a gift certificate
that I won. So, do they really count on the fabric
tracking? Maybe not but they are technically
"fabric purchased" so I put them on there.
I also scored 10 yards of an Andover Fabrics
white-on-white at 5.24/yd. A great time to
stock up on my background yardage for sure.
layer cake of various navy fabrics because my stash
has none and I've always wanted to make a two-tone
with navy and ivory. Now, not only do I need to get lots
of my fabric into actual projects asap, there shall be
no more purchasing till the shop hop in October!
Garden Notes
There were aphids on the pumpkins so hubs picked
up the reinforcements I've been putting off adding.
I don't mess around with my favorite crop.
3,000 ladybugs unleashed,
adding to those we already have.
<insert evil laugh here>
I have finally gotten all of the carrots into the
freezer and made one final picking of the acorn,
butternut and spaghetti squash before pulling the
vines. With double the above amount, I'd much rather
spend time sewing than tending to veggies we don't need!
Besides, they were harboring squash bugs that were
going to find their way to my precious fall crops.
(Yes, some already have.)
All that remains is the pumpkins/gourds, the ratatouille
garden (tomatoes, squash, eggplant) and the many
various peppers. Whew.
(Homemade crust makes a big dif!)
In the kitchen, it's all farm-to-table eating, which
for me, is what it's all about. I literally shop my
gardens for what we're having for dinner and then
try to restrain myself from sending everyone I know
pics of the yummy things hubs and I have fixed up.
(Most end up on Instagram.) I'd apologize but....
no, no I wouldn't. And won't. I enjoy it all too much.
I buy a box of peaches every year from a friend's
fundraising event. These also have ended up in
our cooking. I really recommend this recipe (and
pretty much everything else from Kevin) if only for
the vinaigrette recipe attached. I feel the chicken
needs salting before grilling, and/or perhaps a little
salty bacon would balance out the sweetness
of the fruit in the salad? It's still a great summer
meal, and that vinaigrette is so yummy.
I'll be making peach vanilla bean bourbon jelly
today. It's hub's fave; I like it second only to
apricot, the greatest fruit the good Lord created.
Our grapes have dwindled some over the years,
and the birds (or something else?) have beat us to
them the last two years but this time we got just
enough for batch of jelly--very yummy and a bit
on the tart side, which is great because it's that fake
syrupy-sweet that is often forced to accompany
most things grape that ruins it for me.
Let grapes be grapes!
Do you know what the test of a true foodie is?
Real ingredients. That's my test anyway.
Because we opted for the addition of fresh corn on
the above peach salad, I took full advantage of those
cobs and made up some broth for corn chowder
when things turn cold. Seriously, we don't waste a
thing in my kitchen. Alice Waters has a nice quote
about how your food can only be as good as its
ingredients. Indeed! That corn chowder is going
to rock. Shrimp broth is another game-changer.
Don't waste those shells! And lobster. And...
Okay, I'll stop there. You're getting it.
Enough of my food-snobbery.
How about a new project?!?
I spent almost two days--TWO DAYS--trying
to feel out what I wanted to jump into for my
first fall project. Anyone else do that? I pick
something...but then it just doesn't quite have the
feel that I'm after. Or I'm not sure it'll work out with
my colors afterall. Or any other number of things so
then I start the process all over. But anyway, this
was the third one I came up with and I started
pulling fabrics before I could change my mind.
This is from the book Start With Strips by Susan Ache
that I am accessing with my Scribd subscription. I don't
get kick-backs or anything--just sharing! (And I hope
I'm not running into issues by sharing that pic!)
I have a little work to do to switch this over to a
multi-color project. Most of it is planned in my
head some will just have to evolve once I get
those churn dashes made and on the design wall.
My churn dashes are scrappy so I changed their
construction. With 4 HST's per block, now all dif
colors, I went with a 4-at-a-time method.
These are my my first churn dashes. I was never
a fan but that has lately mellowed and, as their
popularity has been growing again, I felt like giving
them a go. Generally, when I make it, I grow to love it,
or at least like it quite a bit--like when I made Dresdens.
Those deceptive little things are fun! Maybe the "CD's"
aren't quite as rewarding but I am enjoying them.
Could very well have to do with the fall colors, of course.
I don't know if you're envisioning what I have going
on yet but in my mind it looks wicked cool and this
is gonna rock. We'll see...
As for my current to-do list, I am looking at this:
West Point Quilt
Load and quilt.
This isn't likely to happen this week
but it needs to be on the list.
Positively Fearless
Finish quilting, bind and label.
Seriously.
Teeny Tiny Quilt Club et al
You'll notice I've added "et al" since I seem to
be adding my own in-between projects.
I don't know if I'll get another tiny in before Pam
releases the next one but we'll see. I think she'll
have one in the next week or two?
Fall Churning
Hmm, what shall I name this one?
Churning Leaves? It'll come to me all it
due time.
Other Things
Keep pulling out fall decor slowly.
A sis painted (watercolor) these pumpkin pics for me.
I had them framed months ago and I was
tired of waiting...mid-August is close enough!
Now, my silly cadet son took one look at this pic I texted
and at first thought it said "FAIL" and we all have had
a good laugh....except that I keep seeing it now! LOL
Speaking of the cadet, this past weekend he gave
The Oath. He is now "affirmed", fully committed
to at least 7 years of service in the army after
graduating...more if he decides to keep going.
He is second from left, all sportin' the India-Whites.
(They have so many great uniforms!)
Parents that happen to live near West Point are
able to attend all the ceremonies but the rest of us
have to make do with pics the majority of the time.
If he ever looks at my blog I'll be in trouble...
I lifted these from his Instagram.
Happy [fall] quilting!
Comments
Your son must make you so proud. He looks great in his whites. Good job mama!
shrimp shells you mentioned, that's how I made fish stock the one time I made shrimp gumbo - it really does pay to use it all! Your son is very handsome - congratulations to him!