Tuesday To-Do #26

As we work our way toward August, I'm

feeling driven to finish all of my open projects

to be ready for some [guilt-free] fall fun.  The

Tuesday To-Do Link-Up hosted by Chris Knits

continues to be such a helpful motivator.

If you haven't joined in yet, well, there's no

better time than the present!  It's easy:

you make a list, you do the things

and then share the things you did.

Bam.

Checking in from last week:

West Point Quilt

Work on blocks

Done

11 blocks completed (& 2 not-so-completed)

I want to try an Irish chain block in the

alternates but this depends on the stash.

Positivity Quilts

Finish quilting Cinnamon Latte

Done.

Here is my sneak-peek at the quilting.  Mostly it went

well but I struggled some at the beginning of most of

the rows, which of course is right on the dark rust

border where it shows the most.  I guess binding

might smooth the look over, and then there is always

the likelihood that all will  "come out in the wash".

Load up #2 (unnamed)

Done.

Still working on a coffee-proverbs kind of name.

Looks a lot like café au lait to me but I don't want

to ignore the quote.  Think think think.

Side-note:

How cool would it be to do an entire collection of

quilts named after all the yummy latte drinks?  These

would be calorie-free, too--though sadly, minus the

caffeine...which I'm in dire need of at the moment.

Gardening

Continue with carrots; weeding

Done.

A general garden update:

 

Eggplant seems to take forever to produce around

 here.  For the first ratatouille this year I gave up

and bought one <gasp!>; for the second, I just left

it out completely <bigger gasp!> but now it looks 

like I can get back to being legit.

Among the peppers the green chilies, poblanos,

Italian sweets, jalapenos and some bells have kicked

in but in small quantities--so far.  By fall, I'll have

more than I need so I can be patient.  I'm still

getting lots of yellow squash, zucchini, green onion

and tomatoes.   With enough cucumbers to feed an

army, I thought I'd try green chilies in some

"spicy refrigerator pickles" (to date, jalapenos are

our fave) but the chickens are still the biggest

consumers of cukes around here.

With another inch of rain over the weekend

the pumpkins and gourds are all doing very well.

I'm going all-out-fall our front porch this year.

The pumpkins and gourds are always the main decor

so I really worry that they'll succumb to the wrath of

the squash bugs.  Just yesterday, I bagged 100's of tiny

 squash bugs and eggs from the squash section.

Would I have to go buy those ladybugs after all?

And then I stumbled upon this happy sight while weeding.

Yes that's a bindweed but it's covered in ladybugs

who just hatched so he gets to live a little bit longer.

Bastille Day Foodie Pics

Appetizer:  Apricot Brie

(Hubs with the oysters back there; I've never

seen the big deal about them personally.)

Entree:  Scallops 

To Finish:  Café Mocha

Blessedly unsweetened and very yummy but

I've been regretting not getting that lemon torte.

Looking to next week and beyond:

West Point Quilt

Start on chain blocks

Positivity Quilts

Cinnamon Latte:  Bind and mail off.

Poz #2:  Work on quilting (same design as C.L.)

Garden

Pull remaining carrots; keep up weed patrol

Squirrel

Decide on Teeny Tiny Quilt Club

Never mind that I really should be finishing my

Farmer's Wife Quilt.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to be

joining in this one by Pam Buda because I just want

to do something for FUN.

(Anyone else suffering mid-summer mojo issues?!?)

I do not have much luck with putting mini's up for

art but if I can get a nice pull of fabrics that would

work in our living room, this will be green-lighted.

Happy quilting!