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Bama Belles met yesterday.  Several quilts were pinned, maybe three or four of them.

A few others are waiting---Donna had put borders on her chevron quilt but she wanted to make a pieced back.  Beverly had finished up this wonderful scrappy 3-D bowtie but we were not sure that she had enough batting.  A polyester allergy precludes her getting anywhere neat the roll that we use.

Aline, Jane and I were all working on binding.

Nancy is moving up to the neighboring county and had brought some things to share plus needed me to help her with the join on her binding on a large king sized quilt she had hand quilted.  She also brought in a large pile and bags of scraps that Marilyn and Donna primarily were sorting through.  She had brought "thank you" notes from the family--4 kids and a mom who had recently lost their husband/dad---that we had given quilts to earlier this year.  It was about all we could do to get through reading them without crying.  Nancy was puddling up and handed it to me---like anyone who knows me knows how easily I am moved to tears.  Still, I didn't expect to get those notes in the first place.

Marilyn reported that her church group had gotten 30 quilts completed that will be delivered to a mission field in Mexico.  The Belles had helped by providing some tops, backings, and even had gone over to help.

Earlier Bev had shown a double heart string top she had made and needed a little advise on something she was working on.  Her husband's dead car battery made for an early exit though---that and they had just returned from vacation and needed to do laundry, get groceries, etc.  You know how that goes!

The top here on the right is one that Lois whipped up from a batik kit she had gotten for 10 bucks at a guild garage sale.  She says she has enough for two or three more quilts but I am going to take the extras off her hands---next time.

A few folks were missing as usual for various reasons.  When are we ever all together in one spot though?  LOL  Some of us went over to Panera Bread for lunch. YUMMO!  I had the other half of my sandwich today for lunch.

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On a personal level, Project 1 for the HO HO HO blog hop is just about completed.  Just needs borders.  I got the top finished up on Monday evening.   I had intended to get the borders added today and I still might but I need to rest up and cool off first.

I had a bit of a restless night so when I finally did get up it was about 2 hrs later than I had been rising.  Trust me, Skyler did try to get me up but I was not being too receptive to that idea!

Since I had come home with  cukes, tomatoes, a few yellow squash and peppers I knew I had to do something with that stuff.  DJ had run into our across the lane neighbors at the hardware store and they had squash to share and told me that when I got home.  I have no clue what to do with the banana type peppers that are in the bag and was going to swap the peppers for a bit more squash and left a message on their answering machine.  Meanwhile, Robert came by with several zucchini but did not take the peppers----DJ let him get away too.  I still have them and remain clueless.

That started off another kitchen siege---about 4 hours straight in the kitchen again today.  Worst part is that DJ was trying to replace the weather stripping on the front door so it would close better.    Translation:  no a/c and the sun was beating in that part of the house.   ( Old door, they don't make or measure them the same way, I guess.)  I had the oven on and it just kept getting hotter and hotter in here.  By the time he got the weather stripping in (had to go back to the old stuff as the door would not shut) it had hit 85 in here.  I need to cool off before I even attempt to get in the shower and drive off.   It has dropped to 82 and I have two fans blowing in here to help it along.

So what did I do/make?

• a large container of Easy Refrigerator Pickles.  Nicked my right hand 3rd finger on the mandolin too.  Time out for bandaid break. 
• I grated up several of the zucchini and made two loaves of Mom's Zucchini Bread.  I'll use the yellow squash, some of the zukes along with some carrots and onions for a veggie stir fry along with a pasta dish tomorrow night.
• I put some London Broil in the crockpot for Italian beef sandwiches for tonight's meal.  No recipe I just dump the meat, beef broth, some pepperoncini, sliced onions and minced garlic in the pot.  Had I known if those peppers I have were mild or hot I suppose I could have tossed them in there????
•  I sliced up all the tomatoes though initially I thought I might peel and chop them up to put them in the freezer.  We need some of the tomatoes for the sandwiches though.
• While I had the electric knife out, I sliced up both loaves of zuke bread to quick flash freeze for coffee break time.  I offered DJ a taste but when I said it was zucchini bread he didn't want it.  I had to reassure him that the zukes just made it moist but it was a cinnamon, nut deal.  He took some but made no comment. 
• I made a Mocha Fudge Pie----actually that is the only thing I had planned on actually making this week other than the Italian Beef.    This is actually a recipe from Cooking Light back in 98 or 99 but I did find it online HERE,  It has been a long, long time since we had this.  Seemed like something light for dessert.  
• I have washed and re-washed some of those bowls and such twice today and tried to keep the kitchen cleaned up.  
• I still would like to try cold brewing some coffee for iced coffee--love that!---but need to track down some cheesecloth first.  The paper had an article about this in the paper but Pioneer Woman tells how to do it in this post  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/perfect-iced-coffee/

Would you be surprised to hear that I never did get dressed today?  Oh I put on clean undies but stayed in the nightgown externally.  Why get my clothes full of batter, flour, oil, etc?  I don't care as much about my nightgown, LOL.  Wouldn't you know though---the mail lady honked because I had a package delivery (backing fabric for PRJ 1 was part of it).  Here is DJ minus his shirt and me not technically dressed.  I went out anyway.  It looks like a house dress, why not?

If I can get a bit of ambition after I get out of the shower, I may go ahead and cut the borders for PRJ 1.  I am guessing that I may just finish up the binding on the donation quilt though.  I had one short side and most of the first long side done at the meeting.   I need to show it at guild (we meet on Saturday) in order to get credit for the mandatory donation quilt. My guess is that standing at the cutting table, like more standing at the kitchen counter, is NOT going to happen.   I will start fresh tomorrow and cut out what I need for project 2 while I am at it.  Yep, I have an action plan.  

There is another blog hop starting after the HO HO HO---this one is hexies and yes, I signed up though I almost forgot in all that kitchen flurry that today was the signup day.  They book up quick!  I have a couple of ideas and I know this will light a fire under my rear for one of them.  See sewwequilt.com for details!

Okay, shower---fresh clothes.