Last of the Lemurs

Good morning, my friends. Our air quality was a little better yesterday. By afternoon, our sky was looking more blue than the sick yellow of the past few days. It’s looking even better this morning. As is my usual routine in the morning, I checked in on the garden. There were a couple of zucchini to harvest, and the weeds are still manageable. After that, I filled the bird feeders and then headed back inside for my slow-stitching.

Block 7 for “Home is Where My Flock Is” is finished now.

Here are all the blocks I have for this quilt so far.

And this was my goal for August’s

so I’ll link up there when the party starts at the end of the month.

This morning, I’ll take the first stitches on the final block for “A Year in the Garden.”

There were a few things I needed to do, but I had some time before lunch to work on the Lemurs. When my timer went off, I had it this far. There were only about ten pieces to go. It was tempting to keep going, but I decied to take a break.

After lunch, I had one small housekeeping chore to do, but then I headed back to the sewing room Sadie was my emotional support cat.

After another hour or so, I had all the pieces in place. The whole thing was peeled up off the teflon pressing sheet. Surprisingly, there were no gaps. I noticed a few as I was making it, and I’d already filled in those spots. For its picture, I laid it on that background fabric. Nothing is fused.

Asking for a consult from the Retired Resident Engineer, we had differing opinions about how it should be finished off. We could both live with something like what I’ve pictured below.

I’ll give it an asymmetrical border, on just two sides, and then keep the background and outer border the same. There was a strip of green from a binding I’d done at some point, and I can use that for the narrow border. Mike thought the lemurs needed to be “front and center.” We were in agreement about that, but I thought they needed a place to sit, rather than floating in space. I think we negotiated a settlement by doing it this way.

After that, I cleaned up the substantial mess I'd made in the sewing room. It's nice to have the chaos cleared away. And that was enough time in the sewing room, but there was still a lot of time left in the day. I decided to get a head start on the dessert I'd planned for today. This is Caramel Frosted Zucchini Pecan Bars. 

It's more cake-like than bar-like. Think of it as a fluffy zucchini bread with caramel frosting, and you've got it. It's very easy to make, and it's a great way to use up zucchini. You can find the recipe right here. The recipe will suggest lining the pan with parchment, but I found that to be unnecessary. I just sprayed mine with no-stick, and we had no problem getting it out of the pan for our dessert last night.

After I had the sewing room cleaned up, I brought the Kittens quilt over to my work space a laid it there. I'll have to figure out what I'm going to use for a binding, and I'm hoping to get it sewn on today. (I'd like to get going on the hand-stitching.) When I laid it down, Sadie claimed it immediately. It is a kitten quilt, right? Isn't she a kitten?

Probably, I’ll take a break from the lemurs for a day or two. Since I’m still focusing on getting the backlog of finished quilts quilted, I want to keep going with the Kittens and bring it to a finish. Also, I want to make August's yellow Inverted Star block. When I've caught up with other things a little bit, I'll get back to the Lemurs. I want to take a little more time to think about them before I commit to any particular background design. Once they’re fused to a background, there’s no going back. When I’ve settled on a background, I can get on with the thread work.

Today is a grocery shopping day. Also, I want to get some chili started in the slow cooker, and I’m going to bakc some cornbread to go with that. So between grocery shopping and that, it’ll probably be mid-afternoon before I can get any more sewing done. If I can decide on a binding for the Kittens, there should be plenty of time to get it sewn on, and maybe get a start on the hand-stitching.

Okay then. That’s all I have for you today. It’s good to be breathing a little easier. Probably by tomorrow, I’ll be able to whack down the weeds in the garden. As for today, it’s still going to be mostly hanging out inside and staying cool. I hope you’re keeping cool at your end.

Lambs and Lemurs

Good morning, my friends. Our air quality continued to suck yesterday. According to our local newspaper, Portland has the worst air quality on the planet right now.

It was worse yesterday than the day before. The day before had the air quality index rating of "unhealthy to sensitive people." Yesterday's air quality index gave us a rating of just plain "unhealthy." To everyone. We're expecting another day of bad air today. With a shift of the wind, hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Checking the garden, I decided hoeing could wait for the air quality to improve. Instead, I spent most of my day on sewing projects. I've stitched the sheep to a near finish.

It should be easy to finish it off today. Knowing I'd need something else to stitch, I traced the final block for "A Year in the Garden."

Here are the blocks I have for this quilt so far:

After that, I went back to work on the lemurs. Setting a timer for one hour, I had it this far when it was time to stop.

There was one area that was bothering me. First, I thought I should have used a darker gray on the tail where I've circled below. Also, the tan piece within that circle was a mistake. I meant to use the other side of that fabric for a lighter tan.

Here's the original photograph for comparison.

I thought I'd just leave it like that, but when Mike looked at it, he noticed the too-dark tan piece right away. And as long as I was unhappy with that lighter gray, I decided to attempt a fix when I returned. Smitty was my emotional support cat while I worked on that.

Returning from my break, I carefully pulled up those two pieces and replaced them with more suitable colors. By day's end, I had it this far.

There's still a fair amount to do to finish them off. If I have as much time to work on them today, I might be able to get them over the finish line. Of course, there's still much to do before I can call it a true finish. 

So that's where things stand. There isn't much on today's to-do list, and we're avoiding doing much outdoors. Hopefully things will improve air-quality-wise, but I'll admit to relishing the extra sewing time. Another day like yesterday would be just fine by me. I'd love to finish the lemurs. Tomorrow will be a grocery shopping day, and that will cut into my sewing time significantly. I'll enjoy these slow days while they last.

There’s one easy housekeeping chore on today’s list, and I need to make up a shopping list for tomorrow’s grocery shopping expedition. It looks as if I have enough zucchini for some zucchini relish, and so I’ll add whatever I need for that. A few more cucumbers have been harvested, but I’m far short of what I’ll need for a batch of pickles. The garden has been producing at a rate I can keep up with…for now. We have a trip planned for mid-September. (I’ll say more about it as the time grows near.) Hopefully, we can get a good harvest before then.

Okay, so it’s time to get on with my day, and I’ll leave you to get on with yours. Make it a good one, okay?

Lots of Lemur Time

Good morning, my friends. Well...the best laid plans, you know. When we decided to take our boat out, it was a beautiful day with sunshine and blue sky. Yesterday...not so much. It was terribly smoky in our world. I read in our local newspaper that Portland was in the world's top 10 for worst air quality. It's a dubious distinction to be sure. Here's a picture that accompanied the article. Yikes. 

And we could see smoke in the air where we were. So, we decided to stay in with the A/C turned on for filtering. It was a warm day too, and so the A/C had a dual purpose. Mike had a yen to eat out last night. When we arrived home, we were walking in the door when our A/C shut off abruptly, and it made a weird sound. Walking into the house, we realized the power had just gone off. Mike hooked up a generator that allowed us to watch TV. We watched one show, and then decided to just go to bed, hopeful the outage wouldn’t last too long. Before we were ready to go to sleep, the power came back on. Yay!

No worries about the smoky air and canceled boat outing. It just gave me more time to work on the lemurs. Before I did anything in the sewing room, I paid my usual morning visit to the garden. There, I was delighted to see the teeniest tiniest green beans I've ever seen. Hopefully, nothing else will get in the way of a good green bean harvest this year.

There were two new sunflowers. I marked all the sunflowers when I planted them with wide popcicle sticks. I tried checking one the other day. It had rotted off at ground level and the label had faded. Oh well. I tried to keep track of them, but it hardly matters. I like them no matter what they’re called.

It seemed a good time to have them line up for a group photo. 

Corn is appearing now too. There were quite a few plants with corn silk showing.

There’s a new color of zinnia. When I planted these, I was using a mix of seeds. I planted several seeds in each little pot, and then didn’t separate them when I transplanted them into the garden. Now I have clusters of zinnias, and any color might pop up.

There was another newbie in the bee garden. This one is godetia.

My phone tells me this one is called “Whitetop.”

I’m seeing more of these little corn poppies.

Okay, back inside, there’s nothing more I can do with the Kittens quilt until I’ve cleaned up my Lemurs mess. Lemurs…such messy creatures. They’re getting all my attention for the time being. Setting a timer, I spent another hour on the them. That took me to lunch time, and I had them this far.

After lunch, I had a nap, and then did my one housekeeping chore. After that, I decided to spend the rest of the day with the lemurs. Heading into the sewing room, I disturbed Sadie’s nap.

I spent another hour and a half on the lemurs. When I left the for the day, I had them this far.

I’m working from the bottom of the piece upward now. The third face will probably be the last thing I do on this. Once again, here’s the original photo for comparison. 

Today will look a lot like yesterday. We’re still enjoying our granola cups for breakfast, and so I’ll bake some more of those. I have in mind to hoe the garden, but only if the air isn’t too bad. Supposedly, an N-95 mask like we used during the pandemic will protect me from inhaling the worst particulate matter. Mainly, I just need to get out and have a look. If it can go another day or two, then it will. And if the air is too smoky, it’ll have to. 

Since those are the only things on the day’s list of to-do’s. I’ll have plenty of time to spend with the lemurs again. It would surprise me if I could finish this today. Possibly tomorrow, but I doubt that too. I’d like to finish up this part of the process just so I can clean up the sewing room. When I can clean up, I’ll be able to sew the binding on the Kittens. Even when the lemurs are finished, I’m still going to have to figure out a background. After that, there will be a lot of thread work. So, you can see this project still has a long way to go. 

All right. Granola cups are next on the agenda, and then I’ll have a look at the garden. To hoe or not to hoe? That is the question. 

Quilted Kittens

Good morning, my friends. It was my monthly pedicure day, and so there wasn't a lot of time left in the day for sewing. Still, I managed to finish up the quilting on the Kittens, and I had about 45 minutes to spend on the Lemurs...a good day, all in all. Starting with the Kittens, just the outer border remained.

It’s ready for binding now, but I haven’t cut any binding strips. I’m thinking I’ll use a dark brown…or some other dark color. Depends on what’s in my stash when I go looking. And, honestly, I can’t do this as long as I’m working on the lemurs. All my work space is devoted to them right now, and I don’t want to clean it all up just to get it all out again. 

Here’s a peek at the back, although it’s hard to see anything here.

After lunch, I had just enough time to spend on the lemurs. Smitty helped me with that.

Each time I return to them, I spend a little time making adjustments here and there. When I reached the end of my time, I had it this far.

Here’s the original image for comparison. I’m ready to start moving more to the left now. I’ll start with the largest piece…the body of the lemur at the bottom middle.

From there, I rushed off to my pedicure. The salon I’m going to is a part of a rather upscale hotel in our local area. The salon is like any other salon. I don’t know much about the hotel, except to say that their grounds are stunningly beautiful. It’s like a public garden. Even if you aren’t using any part of the hotel, it’s worth visiting the place just to stroll around and look at the beautiful landscaping. 

Getting out of my car, I was parked right in front of this. My phone tells me this is crepe myrtle.

Everything I’m showing you here was seen just in the 50 yards or so that I walked from the parking lot to the door of the hotel. These are roses, obviously.

My phone tells me this is panicled hydrangea. They have a lot of different varieties of hydrangeas that I haven’t seen anywhere else.

These are rose hips.

These were some potted flowers near the entrance.

My phone tells me this is globe hydrangea. These clusters were about the size of a volleyball.

So I got my pedicure and headed for home. There might have been time to work on the lemurs some more, but I decided it was okay to take a break from them for the rest of the afternoon. 

So, lemme show you Mike’s latest 3D design. Remember the new camera I bought last month? We’re getting along really well, and I’m happy with the camera. When I purchased it, I worried I’d be unhappy with the larger size. As it turns out, that’s all fine. Most of the time, I’m just using it around home. If we’re doing sight-seeing, I can add a neck strap and wear it around my neck. The only thing I don't like about this camera is that it requires a lens cap. I had the lens cap attached with the provided tether, but it kept hanging down in the frame of my pictures, and generally making a nuisance of itself. When I told that to Mike, he came up with an idea.

He designed and used his 3-D printer to make this new-fangled lens cap that attaches directly to the lens. It has a hinge that opens like a door. Cool! Perfect! He's been working at this and thinking about it for several days. He's still going to give it a little latch on the side opposite the hinge so that it can't come open accidentally.

Okay, so it’s going to be a mostly sewing day. I have one chore on my list of to-do’s. Yesterday we talked about taking our boat out on the Willamette River for a dinner cruise. It’s sitting in the driveway, hitched to the truck in preparation. I have some leftover chicken salad. I can make us a couple of sandwiches, and we can take a leftover tomato salad from a few days ago. It’ll be just the first time we’ve taken our boat out this summer. 

This morning, we’re reading about poor air quality “hazardous for sensitive people.” That would include people with asthma…in other words, it includes me. The sky has been gray and overcast as I’ve been writing, but the sun is starting to poke through. There’s an orange cast to the sky. So, we may decide not to go. Either way, there will be plenty of time for sewing. 

That’s all I know for now, and so  I’ll leave you to your day. Make it a good one, okay?

Distracted

Good morning, my friends. There wasn't a lot on yesterday's to-do list, which left me plenty of time to get distracted with trip planning. We're planning a trip to South Dakota and Colorado next year (that's fall of 2027). When I noticed a destination we could add to our trip, I got completely immersed in re-routing an itinerary I'd already planned, as I am wont to do. When I looked at the clock, it was after lunch time. Oy. Oh well. Onward. (Honestly, I have as much fun planning a trip as I have when we actually take the trip. My dad was like that, and I have an idea it’s in my DNA.)

Before going off on a travel tangent, I finished up Block 11 for the Snowmen and Reindeer project. This one is called "Reindeer with Fancy Antlers."

There's just one more block to stitch, and then I'll be able to sew this into a finished quilt top. Here are the blocks I have so far.

There was still a little time for stitching, and so I just barely started on the next block for "Home is Where My Flock Is."

That was when I looked out the window to see the kitties out hunting in the field. They're both good hunters, but Sadie will give her treasures to Smitty. He's happy to let her do the hunting, while he stands lookout.

Don't worry, Sadie. I've got your back.

We keep watch on them when they're out, and we don't like them to get this far from the house. Right after taking that picture, we called them back, and they came running. They're good kitties that way. If they come when they’re called, they get treats.

There was one housekeeping chore on my to-do list, and then I could get back to my quilting. The sashings were mostly finished the day before, and so I didn't spend very much time on it yesterday. All the sashings are finished.

Now I've left it needle down in the outer border. I'm hoping to get it to binding stage today.

From there, I headed into the sewing room to do some more work on the lemurs. Sadie followed me. She considered how she might capture one of these creatures and have it for a snack.

Mainly, she just wanted to snuggle the fabrics.

The left eye on the left lemur was bothering me some, and so I spent some time on that, re-orienting and trimming the iris to a better shape. Since this is applique, I have to flip over my plastic pattern and trace from the wrong side. Sometimes I forget to do that, and I end up with a mirror image of what I was going for. I believe that might be what happened with the eye. Fortunately, it was of a shape that made it easy to trim and make it look better to my own eyes. As for the rest of it, after spending a couple of hours on it, I had it this far.

Here's the original photograph for comparison. As I'm looking at this, I'm realizing I need to add a gray piece on the right ear on the left lemur. There's also a tiny gray piece on the right ear of the right lemur I need to add. If there's time today, I'll fix both spots.

Today I'm getting a pedicure. It was rescheduled to accommodate our camping trip last week.  So I ended up with a 2:30 time, which is less than ideal in my book. It pretty well shoots the whole afternoon. Hopefully, I'll have some time for sewing this morning. And if not, there's always tomorrow. 

We've been watching the news about the wildfires coming out of Washington. Hopefully, none of you are in the conflagration there in Spokane. Stay safe, my friends, no matter where you are.