Monday, Monday

I have been a busy girl today!  But obviously Oscar and Skyler have been anything but, LOL.

This was the view this morning as I ate my oatmeal.  His blanket is clean so earlier he was completely covered up with just his snout sticking out.  Such a cutie!

I woke early to temps of 59 and got my laps in early.  Oscar and I had already did a lap in the lane too.  I wore him out already.

Meanwhile,  that  little booger Skyler climbed up on Oscar's play spot/pad on the couch.  I know why he might do this as it was freshly laundered and Sky loves clean laundry.   Kind of reminds me a video I was looking at yesterday of dogs reacting to the cat stealing their beds on you tube.  I half expected Oscar to come in and grab a corner of his fleecy covered pad with his teeth and drag Skyler off getting a paw thumping on his nose for his troubles!  But no, see picture above.  Sky pulled that again when Oscar went out for a bit while I ran out for some groceries.


So breakfast.  Load and unload the dishwasher.  Shower going with the blow dried, flat ironed straighter look and then had to head into town to one of the local hospitals for my annual mammogram.   Arrive a half hour ahead, they said.  It takes about 15 minutes to get there.  I will say they didn't take long to get me through there once the paperwork was complete.  Next week I am off to the OTHER hospital for another test---oh goodie!

While I was in town I ran by the auto dealership that has GMC cars as our Pontiac G6 has three recall items tended to.  One I have been waiting for them to take care of for a year.   Parts were apparently scarce and I was on a waiting list.  Recently when I got yet another card reminding that I had not done the work to date, I saw there were two more things added to the list.  Their not calling me in for the first thing was partially my fault as I kept forgetting to give them my updated phone number.  The other part, I think I got lost in the cracks or the prior management team dropped the ball.    They are "under new manangement", the signs proclaimed, and the guy I talked to was most helpful.  The work is scheduled-- they'll have the car all day--for next week.  They will run me home and pick me back up if needed and I believe I will use that service rather than pester the neighbors at least for the a.m. run.

I grabbed lunch while I was out and came home to check emails and such, returned a call to my mom and then ran out for groceries after Oscar and I walked in the lane.  Once home the groceries were put up and then I got busy in the kitchen:

• prepped raw veggies for the tray I keep on hand
• set up two plates of Asian chopped salad, one for tonight's meal and one for tomorrow.  I had made some dressing similar to the Wendy's old Mandarin Chicken Salad a few days ago.
• made a half sized batch of Health nut spread for bagels, grated carrots being one of the main ingredients
• while I had the grater out, dealt with some zukes my neighbor had brought over--enough for zucchini bread as the recipe I like from all recipe Mom's Zucchini Bread uses 2 cups.  It is now in the freezer though as it is not a good idea to bake when it is 80's, 90's out and sky high humidity.  Not today so much but boy howdy, last week was horrid.
• She had given me some yellow squash too so I sliced that up with some carrots to stir fry but that plan came to a screeching halt when I discovered that all the yellow onions I had on hand, like a whole unopened bag of them, had gone bad.  Time was when every evening meal I fixed almost took an onion.  Now I barely cook, thanks to the summer heat.  I'll get one tomorrow
• Put some eggs on to hard boil for a quick protein source.  
• I had considered making some tuna mac salad like my mom's but there is no room for a bowl in the fridge.  Having learned to cook for a family of 8 and helping mom, I always make too much but I could always share with the neighbors.  Maybe later in the week.
• And, now I am enjoying an iced coffee.  Senior priced coffee from Jack's that I had chilled, reduced fat milk and sugar free hazelnut syrup from Torani.  Yummo!  DJ always raved about Jack's decaf Royal Cup and even though we had coffee at home, he would split a cup with me though I like coffee better iced.  Not a connoisseur, by any means.  I do love coffee ice cream though and that is sorta what this reminds me of.

I think now I am going to veg out here on the couch and wait for Major Crimes to come on later on TNT.  Finish this post and have supper too.  Of course, I will walk Oscar one more time but that will hopefully happen once the sun gets a bit more below the tree line.  He doesn't always let me do that.  In fact, he is barking at something out in the front yard.

What else?  Saturday afternoon Jane and Hugh invited me to come to Hugh's ham radio operators field day as they were having a cookout.  They were set up so three operators could be using the equipment, rotating in and out.  Buddy helped me make a contact with someone in North Texas before we ate, telling me when to give the club's identifier W3K "whiskey 3 kilo" .  They were having the event in the city park where I walk 6 days out of 7 and some were staying overnight.  The club president and her husband had their camper set up and Eddie, the guy sitting across from me at supper said he had a hammock.  He was eyeing the side poles of the pavilion.  I asked "you mean when I come in to walk tomorrow some of you will be on the radios?" Actually I saw him the next morning eating some breakfast, hammock empty.  We waved, LOL.

Word came over Facebook that DJ's grandson Josh and his long time girlfriend Lauren are now engaged.  Both graduated from SIU-Edwardsvile this spring.  Josh has more school ahead though as he is going on for his masters.  Meanwhile his parents just recently celebrated their 25th anniversary and are going to realize a long held dream and move down to the Fort Myers, FL area this week.  So many things DJ is missing out on.  I'm happy for all of them and I know how proud he would be of his family.

I got stung by something on the right side of my head.  Saturday after he mowed, Robert had asked me if I had any weed killer on hand to spray around the chain link fence, hopefully to avoid weed whacking so near it.  I did but the pump did not seem to be working so I asked him if he could take a look at it and see if he could get it to work.  He did and even sprayed the area himself and gave the thing back to me to put up.  As we were standing on the carport that whatever bug it was swooped into my hair and got sort of tangled up in hair and my hair clip.  Stinging and burning ensued immediately and even tagged my thumb a bit trying to get it out of there and off of me.   I'm guessing a wasp since they are always trying to build a nest in the carport but it sort of felt round and firm like one of those bees I see out there.  Between the fire ant bite on my big toe and the wasp bite from cutting volunteers out of the gardenia is it any wonder I prefer staying IN the house??   Basically I was done for the day---the pain pills and Benadryl combo made me drowsy and icing my head for 20 minutes each hour for a couple hours meant forget about sewing with Norma and Cher. Thankfully today it is just a little tender right where the bite is/was.

On Saturday I did get some sewing done though--those pillowcases.  The fabric for this was stuff I had gotten in Pigeon Forge as possibles for Lily's quilt.  It is from a 5-1 yard packet of coordinated fabrics sold to make a twin sized quilt.  This is Vintage Vibe by Faye Burgos for Marcus Brothers.   The green does not show up too well in this photo.   I always have to watch a you-tube video to review how to make these as the written directions I have just confuses me.   I like the one from Vanessa from Crafty Gemini.   It still took me longer to get it done than it should have as I am a presser from way back.  One thing I did to try to keep the accent band together was glue baste and heat set.  This one came out really well with that!

The 2nd one took about 35 minutes and that is the purported time the handout said you whip one up.  The body of the pillowcase was a coordinate to the gray paisley above.  The aqua was leftover from Lily's quilt and I think from Hobby Lobby.  The cuff was a piece in my stash from who knows who.   I'm a thread or two off on the accent piece but not too noticeable.  You know how critical we are of our own work!

And I'm giving this one away.  I made this one sometime back from a kit from a quilt shop that I got somewhere.  In a sew-in bag, I think.  It has never been used so the cute fabrics will surely work for one of the girls at Big Oak Ranch.  The accent piece on this is off by a good 3/8 of an inch.  That's why I was experimenting to with good old Elmer to see if I could get a better outcome.

As far as the D4P Norma was having a hard time remembering on her first few blocks so I told her I was sticking a note right in my cutting area to remind me, LOL.  I only got as far as seaming three of the blocks to squeeze out three more 6 1/2 inch squares from leftover from a previous blue project and I have 2/3rds of one block done and a couple halves of the giant 4 patches.  I had to get my pjs on and lay down.

I moved the sewing table back into the sewing room though.  I banged the heck out of my right knee trying to climb over the dog gate in such cramped quarters in the kitchen doorway.  Also Skyler would not get out from under the table and then Oscar would try to climb under their as well---a little crowded under the feet, thanks to the critters.  Mostly though it was sort of a pain to have to run back and forth over the dog gate to press and keep my thread eating kitty at bay.  I'll try to squeeze in an hour or two tomorrow afternoon once the sun goes to the front of the house and Oscar won't bake in the back yard.   Maybe I'll have a block or two to share next post.

And so it goes---

Dog Day Afternoon

Look at these two live wires, LOL.  As I start to write this post it is 91 degrees at 6:15 pm and the heat indices factoring in humidity, it feels like 99 degrees.  Blamed hot!   Oscar had insisted on going out around 4 and was panting like crazy on our return from the stroll on the lane.  He flopped on the kitchen floor right in front of his bed for awhile.  This is the current view.

Skyler has abandoned both of his window perches AND the kitchen chair I could not keep him off of for days on end.  If the front door is open, he sits there or near my shoes by the entertainment center.  The other main spot is the foot of the master bed and specifically, on a quilt I have folded there. ( My antique bowtie that I sometimes use on my bed in the summer.)  I like it because it is light weight and the sunny yellow background.  Not sure why Skyler is so attached to it all the sudden.   Next week it will be something different!

My Bama Belles group met yesterday.  I left a little early and because of the heat, let Oscar loose in the kitchen while I was away.  He would not get up, eat or go out before I left which was a little odd.  I figured he needed access to his food and water and I'd clean up any puddles but he was a good boy!

 Usually Bev and I arrive first as we are the ones with the key and keep each other company but she was out of town.  Shawnee and Linda arrived shortly after I did and hit the pinning table pinning a top towards Shawnee's "quilt a month" goal.  Jane, Lois and Beverly came along later.  Beverly is working on a quilt with some of her mother's hankies that will be passed on to family members.  Jane was helping at the pinning table and Lois had a pretty log cabin quilt arranged in my favorite medallion set.  I was cutting!

I got all the blue 6 1/2 inch squares cut before I left.  I messed up on my counting method at some point and over-cut BUT I have enough if I decide to make an 9 x 10 set instead of 9 x 9.  The quilt below "Cheese and Crackers" measures 92 x 99 and fits the master bed well but minus a pillow tuck.  An extra row might be good.

Later in the evening after I got Oscar in bed I went into the sewing room and cut my way through the whites and creams.  There were less to play with than the blues--10 fabrics and a bit of a leftover fat quarter that yielded about 7 squares.  A couple pieces were just half yards so a little short for cutting 18 from each one.   I have enough even if I do go with the extra row.

Norma, Cher and I plan to sew this weekend and since we are doing a Disappearing 4 patch, we had talked about cutting ahead of time and maybe even starting on the huge four patches.  I'm thinking that I might drag my little sewing table into the living room as I hate sewing at the kitchen table.  It is just too blamed hot for me to have Oscar stay outside while I sew.  Just a temporary measure.   Move the couch down towards the fireplace wall and move the lamp and it might work.   And I might actually get some sewing done.

The only thing I've sewn since the Monday sew-in on the 15th is sew a casing in an old outfit and insert new elastic--and I did THAT yesterday morning before I fed the critters and left for quilting.   Here is said outfit with shorts that match the kitty top.  Back in 2001 or so.  DJ was teasing me about something or another,  he thought it was funny anyway though I'm smiling too.  I said the outfit was old but I can wear it again!

I also need to whip up a pillowcase or two for a guild project.  Jane asked me to go with her next Wednesday to deliver them when small group meets.  I've got one on the shelf they can have as it has never been used with cute fabric, it being a quilt shop kit.  I am trying to think of what yardage I have enough of for the body of a standard pillow case that would be appropriate for girls.  I might be cutting again in about 30-45 minutes,  Oscar's in about 8 pm.

And sew it goes-----stay cool!

this and that on a Saturday

......And the non-sewing drought continues though I have been studying and considering different aspects of a couple of different patterns. I went to a "one woman" quilt exhibit held at a nearby church yesterday which triggered some of that quilty curiosity.   More on that in a bit!

Also I reorganized a few of my fabric totes and made sure the containers were labeled as to what is housed in there. I want to do that blue and white Disappearing 4 patch (D4P) sometime next month so most of the shifting around was because of that. However, I know there is more hiding in my sewing room, depleted from several QOVs but I may be able to scrounge some 6 1/2 inch squares from those bits. If not, I am cutting them up for other uses. I've got an old UFO of Massachusetts Cross and Crown that also uses dark blues, for example.  I'll dig it out for you to see or you can read about it on the link above.

The Hancock's of Paducah catalog came a few days ago and I was finding myself intrigued by a quilt on the cover and on page 51 done up in the Gardenvale fabric line by Jen Kingswell.  The quilt is called "Gene Pool".  Well, it looks like Marti Michell's "Cubic Turtle" from Quilting for People Who Still Don't Have Time to Quilt to me.   This blogger refers to it and you can check the graphic she used.  I have had those pages flagged in my copy of the book forever.  Essentially it is a four color quilt and I just have not found the perfect fabric combo in sufficient quantity to try it.    Also stuck in the pages of the Cubic Turtle pattern:  printouts.  Sometimes, in the end, it is called Tile Quilt.   The block does not look like much until you join them together.  Scroll on down the page on the threadlove site I liked to and you will see a version of my friend Cher of Marathon Quilter made.

SO I am thinking, looking at a more scrappy version of this from Ms.  Kingswell, "how did she do a scrappy version?".  Boy, would you really have to watch your color placement!  Design wall a must.  Closer inspection shows that she didn't use larger plain squares and 4 patches but they are strips and squares.  Take a look at the version shown here in progress and you can see how it might go together.  Maybe it is made to be jelly roll friendly or some such thing.  She changed it up.

There are many patterns open to interpretation that turn out looking much the same, from a distance anyway.  Like, I can stitch my blue and white D4P using those directions OR I can strip piece sections and use a pattern like this Block of the Month on azpatch and call it woven 9 patch.  (There was another site that had the same thing and called it Knots but no longer available.  Trust me, I looked!)   It isn't the size I want but hey, it is drawn up in EQ now and I could make them 11 inches or 13 inches or whatever trips my trigger if I go that route.  The Disappearing 4 patch way, mine came out 11 as I cut mine a little wider by accident---see HERE --but I liked my way better, LOL.  And will repeat that "error" on purpose.

What else has my attention?   I postponed my lap walking yesterday until AFTER I went to look at Fleeta's quilt exhibit.  I get pretty sweaty after walking almost 2 miles in the Alabama heat and humidity and then car's a/c does a number on my hair.  Good plan to wait!  Fleeta used to come to Bama Belles but then later settled in with the JOY Guild and more specifically with a small group within the guild.  I don't see her much anymore but many of the quilts were probably held up for guild show and tell.  A few pieces I remembered.  She also cross stitches beautifully so other items were there as well.  She walked around with me to tell me more about the quilts.  Many of them are going to family members if they haven't already been borrowed back for the exhibit.  I took a few pictures with my phone.

I forgot what she called this and she had another done up in blues that was very well done.  Obviously there are alternating blocks which complete the framing of green around the other Weather Vane-like block.  I told her I would look and see if I could come up with the name in BlockBase.

She had two made in this pattern and said it was "Treasures Amidst the Bric-a-Brac"  apparently taught in a guild class by a mother and daughter quiltshop owners team up on the Mountaintop.  Thing is, I know who/what she meant though I cannot come up with the name either though some of the Belles and I have been there on a field trip.

I have a photo of quilt just like it in my files but it did not print off with the blog name and I neglected to label it but it did intrigue me.  I can sort of see how the alternating block goes together but not what happens where the two chains intertwine.

Here it is in the alternate colorway.  

Mr. Google showed me that this is a mystery quilt from a book called amazingly, Mystery Quilts by Rita Fishel.  This link will open to a pdf file. There is a pattern for something called "legend of the spinning top" that looks like something fun for Belles to try.  I like the blocks shown in the pdf file even though I am not crazy about doing mystery quilts so I ordered a used copy from amazon.  I like to read mystery books but quilts is about the process to me.  "Here is a picture of my fabrics now visualize your own" and make the blocks to make it happen.  I like the one down near "meet the author" on the table of contents on the left.  Wonder what that looks like when combined with other blocks?  Guess I'll find out soon enough!

I am hoping that Oscar and I can settle into a bit of a routine so he can go outside for a few hours in the backyard once the sun is more in the front of the house.  Just a couple hours to sew or cut.  Or even quilt or that matter as I have several pinned and waiting.  Used wisely, I would not feel like such a slug.  I miss it.  I am due that reward project!!  Past due.

Well, speaking of Oscar we have done the "do you need to go out?" hokey pokey for about an hour.  I go to open the back door and he hops in his bed or just looks at me like " what?  are you nuts, lady?"  He did at one point head to the carport door but I was not ready to go and he ran back to the couch.  I was ignoring his "please walk" signal.  I finally made him go out the back but feel guilty---a little, LOL.  I'm tired and achy but will do it anyway.  Skyler, on the other hand, is practically Velcro'd to his chair in the kitchen.  It has been days and days since he got on either window perch.   He has taken to climbing on Oscar's spot on the couch however, mostly once Oscar is in bed.

Till next time------