What I’ve Been Working On

It’s been rainy here! One day last week, I got five inches. I’m not sure what the cumulative total was for all the days, but it rained pretty much every day. There were several days with lightening, and I try to keep the quilting machine unplugged when that happens. The downtime meant not much quilting was done. I did manage to get this one quilted and put the binding on.

This lady does really nice work—the back is always as neat as the front with no untrimmed threads or unpressed seams.

Even though I didn’t plug the quilting machine in every day, I had no problem plugging in a sewing machine and sewing. I have several that don’t have complicated electronics, so I don’t worry about using them when there’s a storm. I spent time sewing small random scraps to other small random scraps and made some improv blocks. 

I think I got about 20 done, so that was good progress. 

I also spent quite a bit of time cutting blocks. I had quite a bit of blue and yellow in my stash, and I cut some 3.5” squares. I have started sewing them into split nine patch blocks.

I got hooked on the split nine patch blocks several years ago (maybe 2010-2012), and I made so many I got burned out and didn’t want to make more. I guess I am over my burn out, because I am having fun with these. I’m wishing I had cut more squares in other colors. Maybe later. There are so many design possibilities with these blocks.

I also got a Villa Rosa pattern cut out. 

It’s for 10-inch squares, and I have a couple of layer cakes of Wild Poppy. 

I ordered two yards of this pinkish purple from the same line to use for a border. 

This one will go together pretty quickly. I need it for a gift so quick is good in this case. I hoped to get all the blocks made last night, but I sat down in the recliner to take a break and fell asleep. I will see what I can get done tonight.

Summer Challenge Part 2

I found the charm pack I was missing. 

I took it as a sign I should go ahead and sign up for Sarah’s summer challenge. You can find the details here. Bottom line: cost to sign up is $10, and if you finish the challenge by Labor Day, you are entering in the drawing for a $250 gift card. 

I went to Yorktown and got myself signed up. The pattern is a Jacob’s ladder, and I have a turquoise and a white to go with the three charm packs I have of the Chez Moi fabric. 

It’s an easy block, and I’ve got two rows done. 

I like the way it looks so far, and I’m anxious to get it finished. Of course, I have until Labor Day, so no real rush. The requirement is to do at least twelve blocks, but I have enough charm packs to do more, and I’m aiming for sixteen blocks with a couple of borders. I’ll post my progress as I go.

Catching Up

It's been over a week since I wrote a blog post. That's unusual for me, although I don't post every day, I manage to have something to say a little more often than weekly. I had meetings several days, and wasn't able to sew as much as I would have liked. I did get a few things finished, including this customer quilt.

I got another quilted and the binding put on.

Yesterday morning was the farmer's market. I was able to stop and walk around a little bit. 

There weren't any large tomatoes, and I'm not sure why. I probably need to ask one of the farmers. I did buy a bag of small ones and some jalepeno cheddar bread. 

I still have some squash and cucumbers left from last week. I so appreciate the farmers who come and sell their vegetables every week to those of us who no longer have the time and energy required for a garden. It is such a blessing!

I had some fresh corn a church friend gave me, and I air fried a small sirloin for supper and ate it with corn and tomatoes, and of course a slice of the bread. I thought the bread tasted sour, but I looked at the label, and it was sour dough bread. LOL. 

Summer Challenge

Every year, Seams Like Home quilt shop in Yorktown does a summer challenge starting on Memorial Day. 

This year is a Jacob’s Ladder block. If you want to enter, here is a link to the website. You don’t have to be local to join. Just use the link to enter—cost is $10, and if you finish by Labor Day, you will be entered into the drawing for a $250 gift card. Tell them Carolyn sent you!

I said I wasn’t going to do it this year, but……of course I am going to join. I went through my charm packs and solids yesterday, and I needed up pulling these out.

I think I have another charm pack of the Chez Moi somewhere that I can use for a border. I have until Labor Day to find it, so there’s a chance I can locate it somewhere. Y’all, the FOMO is real. I haven’t signed up yet, but I will—probably next week. 

Other news: some friends at church gave me veggies from their garden. I cooked green beans and squash last night.

The little potatoes were from the grocery store, and I cooked some sausages in the oven. My friends also gave me some corn, but I didn’t have time to cook it last night. I’m hoping to do that tonight. No tomatoes yet, but I will go by the farmer’s market in the morning and see if they have any. I sure hope they do. 

It was good. The discoloration on the squash was from the Morton’s Season Salt. If you’re like me, this is how you grew up eating, so it’s comfort food. 

Shrimp Scampi

I saw a Facebook reel where a young lady was cooking shrimp in a muffin pan, and I was intrigued enough to try it. I bought some fresh large raw shrimp at the grocery store Saturday. I bought a little over a pound, but decided I would only cook nine to start with.

I seasoned them with Tony Chachere and Chesapeake seafood seasoning.

I put a slice of butter and a little bit of minced garlic on each one. The lady in the video put a teaspoon of garlic on each one, but I knew that would be too much. She also used precooked shrimp, which I also didn’t like the idea of.

I also added some parsley to each and baked about 12 minutes in a 350 degree oven. The video said to bake the shrimp for 30 minutes, and she used precooked shrimp! That’s way too long! While they were baking, I cooked some spaghetti and made a salad. Here’s what they looked like after baking. 

And here’s my meal:

I know it looks like a lot, but half the plate was salad. It was good, but I really don’t see the advantage of cooking the shrimp in a muffin pan. I think she did it just to make it more attention-getting. It actually made the cleanup a little harder. My advice is to just use a small pan and sauté the shrimp in melted butter with the seasonings. There’s less chance of overcooking it that way.

Graduation

My oldest grandchild has graduated from high school, and I’m both happy and sad if that makes sense. From this:

To this:

All in the blink of an eye.

I did absolutely nothing yesterday, I was so tired. Actually I cleaned one of the bathrooms and cooked and walked the dogs, but that doesn’t exactly fill up the day. We celebrated all things graduation over the weekend, and it tired me out! Friday night was a party for the graduates at the community center with a dinner and dancing. I couldn’t stay late because I drove my mom there and as soon as the dj started, she was asking when we could leave. I put her off for a while, but I knew she was ready to go.

Each graduate had a table that was decorated by their family. This was ours.

There were a lot of pretty ones.

The guest of honor:

Saturday I did a bunch of house cleaning as I knew some people were coming over Sunday to catch a ride to the graduation ceremony. It was pretty lengthy or maybe they all are. I’m out of touch. LOL. 

We went out after, and there was a long wait for a table. I had had to be at church at 7am to unlock everything, and didn’t get home until around 8pm, so it was another long day for me. I’m still recovering.

Cruise Project Pix

I meant to get this posted yesterday, but things have been crazy busy and I ran out of time. We all worked on our own projects on the cruise, but I didn’t see a lot of finishes. I couldn’t finish this one because I was short on fabric. 

It still needs the bottom border, but I ran out of the solid blue I was using as the background. The quilt pattern was inspired by a quilt I saw on Tiffany’s Quilting Life, but I made a few changes, including the size. I calculated what I would need for the larger size and obviously miscalculated. It’s okay. I’ve got the corners done, and I have an entire bolt of the background fabric so it will be finished soon. I worked on three other projects, but none of them got finished either. No pictures yet.

Donna finished her top. 

It’s a Villa Rosa pattern called Notches. 

Karen finished a couple of three-yard quilts.

And, Catherine finished a Turning Twenty quilt.

There were other people sewing, but I don’t think they finished anything. There were plenty of other things to do on the ship and excursions when we were in port. 

Cruisin’

I returned yesterday from my quilting cruise, and I had a great time. I do one or two each year, and this one may have been the best one yet. We left Saturday from Galveston. 

Goodbye Galveston!

Our first stop was Costa Maya, Mexico, and I didn’t even leave the ship! I did get up early every morning and walk on the top deck and work out in the gym

It’s not difficult to get plenty of exercise, between the jogging track and the gym, and the views are very motivating. 

We had a conference room for sewing, like usual, and I spent plenty of time in there.

There was an ironing station and two design walls.

Not everyone in our group sewed. Some worked on puzzles,

some crocheted,

and BJ worked on her sashiko

The food was really good. I mostly had the same breakfast every morning

eggs, bacon, avocado toast with smoked salmon. Salad for lunch, and then dinner in the main dining room. 

Prime rib with tomato basil soup:

Seafood linguini:

Sirloin strip with French onion soup:

My favorite, filet of sole:

Our waiter offered to take a selfie with our group. Elton and the rest of us:

That’s enough for now, I’m super tired. I’ll try to get some pictures posted tomorrow of some of the projects we worked on.