Good Morning!

 

Well, my heart cath is over and done, and I had a cup of half-caff Saturday morning, and a Coke Zero at lunch. I’m not trying to over-do it, but I felt a celebration was in order. 

I ended up staying longer in the hospital than I had planned; I had to send my daughter back to my house to let the dogs out for a little while. Ruthie was upset that I wasn’t the one letting her out and refused to eat. Since I got home, she hasn’t let me out of her sight.

Saturday was spent on the couch watching TV—I wasn’t supposed to use my right hand for 24 hours. They inserted the camera through my right wrist. Anyway, it’s over now, and there’s no blockage and minimal plaque. The only issue is the anomalous left artery. The doctor is not sure if I will need surgery to correct it or not. I will find out on Wednesday, I guess. I’m thinking I’ve lived with it this many years with zero symptoms, but I will defer to what the experts decide. 

So no sewing was done Friday or Saturday, but I hope to make up for it today. Sitting around all day yesterday is totally out of character for me, and I’m anxious to get something done.

Decaffeinated

There hasn’t been much sewing going on here….lots of activities, but most didn’t involve a sewing machine. One of my crowns popped off on Sunday when I was eating a salad, but I luckily had an appointment scheduled for Monday morning for a cleaning and the dentist cemented the crown back on. Unfortunately, it seems the reason it popped off is because I wore a hole through the middle of it. I am going back next Monday to start the process of getting a new one made.

Tuesday I was at the hospital getting tests run on my heart. A CT scan, an echocardiogram, and a sonogram on my neck. Now I am going back on Friday to get a heart catheterization. None of this is anything I want to do. The worst part is that I can’t have caffeine before these tests. I have (had) a big ole caffeine addiction. I started weaning myself off caffeine a couple of weeks ago, and now I can do without it and not get a crashing headache. It’s amazing what you can do when you have to, but I do think the lack of caffeine is attributing to my inability to focus. 

I’ve been doing a little sewing in the evenings, mainly working on my APQ quilt along. I finally got the E and F blocks done.

I’m currently working on G. We’ll see how that goes. I feel like I’m making progress!

There was a little progress made on cutting the strips for one of the kits I want to take on my cruise. I’m assuming I can still go on the cruise—all this heart stuff I’m experiencing has me questioning everything. Anyway, I have all the color strips done, but I need 118 one-inch strips of the black.

I’m really glad I didn’t wait until the last minute to cut this one. I hope to get this one cut and maybe cut another one to take with me. 

Today is our quilt guild meeting. I was told we are supposed to bring our aprons for show and tell. That will be fun.

Working on Everything, Finishing Nothing

I put a customer quilt on the frame yesterday, and it was small enough I should have had it finished, but I couldn't stay focused. I also worked on appliqueing some centers to my flower swap blocks.

I mainly stuck with the yellow centers, except on the yellow flowers; those had to have different centers.

I didn't quite finish them. There were two blocks I forgot at home. The blocks are 9", so it will take quite a few more to make a decent sized top. I will most likely use a wide sashing to help with the size. 

The Planters quilt is laid out and ready for assembly.

I never was able to get the lighting right on this picture—-it looks better in person, I think. I was hoping to get a few rows done, but I took a break to fix something to eat. 

It’s so hard to cook for one person. I buy a pound of ground sirloin and make four Pattie’s which I freeze. I can take out one and thaw it out pretty quickly, so I alternate between hamburgers and meat patties like the picture above. I also do the Tyson chicken patties in the air fryer. Well, it’s not like I’m going hungry, just need some new ideas. Four teen boys are getting confirmed today at church, and my group is doing the breakfast. Egg casseroles. I’m not too excited about that, but I made one. I also made two dozen cinnamon rolls. I think those will more popular with the boys. 😉

What I’m Working On

It’s Friday! 

I’m still working on my APQ quilt along blocks. Remember this?

I cut all the pink and white blocks down, and now I’m getting this

I think I am jinxed on this block. I had to walk away from it for a while.

We had Brontë Bee Wednesday. Our guild does it at the library, and anyone can join us, but it is generally just us. Well, not all of us, just a core group that generally goes.

We worked on these two-yard reversible aprons:

It’s not hard, but there is a lot of pressing and topstitching, which really slows down the whole process. I had to take mine home and finish the next day. 

I’m just happy it’s finished and not a UFO.

And here’s a picture of my oldest granddaughter at a track tournament.

When I was her age, we called them track meets. Do they still call them that? I was also a hurdler. Like grandmother, like granddaughter, I guess.

Mid-Week Update

There’s not much to report….I think that’s a good thing. I made cinnamon rolls Monday morning. It was a long process because I made yeast dough and had to let it rise. I actually used my recipe for white bread and just rolled it out flat. I had a hard time keeping it flat, it kept sort of shrinking up or contracting after I rolled it out. I’m not sure how to fix that. I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture. They were very good, and I figured I’d better get them out of the house pretty quickly. I’m sure my neighbors hope I will keep baking.

I’m still working on the APQ quilt along blocks. 

I made a few more of these uneven nine patches. I’m really not enjoying them. I made a decision—I need six of these E blocks and four of the F’s. I am going to flip-flop that and do four of the E’s and six of the F’s. I decided to go ahead and cut out the F’s, and now I’m frustrated.

It seems the measurements from the magazine are wrong. This on top of a couple of other blocks that I could see a more logical way to piece them. Luckily, none of the blocks are very complex, so I will keep plodding along and get through it. I’m the picture above, the green squares are the correct size, so it is easy enough to cut the pink and white ones down. Anyway, the blocks run for A through M so I’m not even halfway yet. Close, though.

This month’s block swap is underway, and I’ve been making more of the flower blocks.

This will likely be my last month of this one. I still need to appliqué some centers and need to work on that.

We had Bunco Monday night. I didn’t get a chance to take pictures when the game was going on—I was too busy rolling the dice. I did get a picture of the food line.

Everything we do involves food. LOL. I didn’t win, but it was fun. I think we had 40 people, plus four men who played dominoes. 

We had the leftover sandwiches for lunch Tuesday when we met to make comfort quilts. I was planning to make a salad for supper, but I had some chalupa shells left from last week and a can of refried beans in the pantry.

I think it still counts a salad since it has lettuce and tomatoes.😉

Scrappy Projects

I spent some time Sunday working on the APQ quilt along. I should have been working in the yard or cleaning the house, but instead, I did block D.

I started on block E, but oh my goodness, it is taking forever. I have 10 of the 3” uneven nine patches done; I need 30.

I’m feeling really bogged down with these and was tempted to skip ahead to the next block. I haven’t so far, but it could happen. If I have some spare time today, I will try to get some more of these pesky nine patches made. 

Tonight is bunco, and my group is hosting. I’m not doing much on food prep—I got some crackers and some sliced cheese from the deli. I am planning to make some cinnamon rolls today. I haven’t made them in ages and decided I should make some. I picked up some yeast when I was at the store buying cheese and crackers. I’m hoping they turn out well. I can’t eat a whole batch, but I can share with the kids and with the neighbors.

A Few Finishes

I finished the customer quilt I was working on, and it got picked up yesterday.

The lady made it from her son’s Air Force uniforms and some extra yardage, so it’s a type of memory quilt. It looks to be the Cheaper by the Dozen pattern, and she also made four pillow sham tops which I quilted but forgot to photograph. The back is a world atlas sort of print.

I think it is totally appropriate for the top. The quilting pattern is Stars Allover.

My April UFO is quilted and bound, so I can check that off my list.

I still need to work on the April piecing goal, and right now I don’t know when that will happen, or if it will happen.

Not quilting related, but I have been looking for the longest time for a dust mop. I haven’t been able to find one, but yesterday I went into Family Dollar for something, and look what I found!

I admit I am excited about this thing. I never thought I would be the type of person that could get excited over a $10 dust mop, but here we are. I even bought an extra cover for it so I will have a spare when one is in the wash. I like it so much, I am going to go back and get another one for my shop.

Busy Days

I have been so exhausted—I think I overdid it over the Eater weekend, and I can’t seem to get caught up. Oh, it has been busy here; there’s so much to do, and my energy and stamina are not what they used to me. I don’t go to bed until around 10:30, but lately I’ve been falling asleep on the couch long before bed time. Two nights a week I am at the ballpark for this:

We are a sports family, so this is fun for all of us, but two nights a week is a lot (for me). Some of the other nights are spent playing bingo or bunco. 

As for sewing, I have been all caught up in doing the APQ quilt along.

I really like this quilt, and it is keeping my attention pretty well. I got the A and B blocks done last week

and now the C blocks are done.

The goal for this weekend is to get the D and E ones done. D is cut out already. The numbers run A though M, about six of each block, so I have a ways to go. I am able to use scraps I have here plus some fat quarters. The other goal is to not buy anything. 

I need to do some laundry and house cleaning this weekend, and of course, the yard work never ends. We have had some rain, so I will soon be mowing again.

Happy Easter

 

I hope you are having a good holiday and spending it with the people you love. I am going to church, and then to my daughter’s house. I spent most of yesterday cooking. I made pies for my neighbors and of course, I made some to take today. Also two dozen deviled eggs and scalloped potatoes. Daughter is doing the meat, and my mom is bringing salad.

Other than that, I have been working on the quilt along blocks. 

I got all six of the “A” blocks done, but only two of the “B” blocks. I thought I had made enough of the little nine patches to make six blocks, but I must have miscounted. The  “C” blocks look easy, and I am hoping to get started on them as soon as I finish more of the 3” nine patches. It’s possible I will have time this evening, but I am hooked on a couple of the PBS shows that come on Sunday nights, so we’ll see.

Mindless Sewing

I made a reasonably good start on the APQ quilt along. I got all the A blocks made and started on the B blocks. I'll post pictures tomorrow. I also got Donna's quilt finished.

I was a little nervous about the thread she picked---it really stands out. She loves it, and that's what counts. She brought me another top like this one, except black where the gray is in this one. 

I haven't been in the mood to finish what I need to finish, so I did some of my mindless sewing blocks. That means I just pulled pieces out of the scrap bucket and started stitching them together.

By the end of the afternoon, I had a 15" block.

I call them my scrap vortex blocks, and I have a pretty good stack of them. I am planning on getting them into a quilt at some point, although they also make fun bags. I really like these blocks, although I know they aren't everyone's cup of tea. They clear my head and allow me to de-stress. The downside is that they made a BIG mess in the sewing room. There are scraps everywhere that I will need to pick up soon. Just as soon as I sew a few more. 

April UFO

The April number was 4 for the American Patchwork and Quilting UFO challenge.

My number 4 for quilting is the Flutterby quilt.

It does have borders on it, but I can’t find a more recent picture. It was one of the shop hop quilt kits from 2022, so it’s time to get it done.

The piecing goal I have for April is the Curvy Log Cabin.

I took the blocks out and counted them, and it seems I am a block short. I will need to make another before I can join them together.

I have plenty of the strips left, so no problem. I bought this quilt pattern at the Houston Quilt Festival several years ago, so it’s time to get this one done too. 

Last month was successful. I got the quilting goal and the piecing goal done. 

Other than that, it’s raining like crazy here…..one of my dogs is afraid of thunder so that’s not fun. I accidentally left the bedroom door open this morning, and when I went in to make my bed, I found this:

They never miss an opportunity.