When Hobby Becomes Mission

Good morning, my friends. It’s another morning of writing fast. Matthew and I are meeting up this morning. I’ll say more about that in a minute. 

It was a busy sewing day yesterday. With the Cats in Pajamas soon to be rehomed, it was time to think seriously about the next quilt in line to be quilted. Grandpa’s Bridges is next. This should be pretty easy. Already I have some ideas about it, and it’ll all be doable.

Yesterday I picked out the threads I want to use. The threads I’m about to show you all come courtesy of my quilting fairy godmother, Ila. Thank you, Ila. For the embroidered blocks, I’ll use this off white.

For the outer border and sashings, I’ll use this pretty variegated King Tut thread. Are these colors perfect, or what?

For the inner border and block borders, I’ll use this pretty brownish/rustish color. (I’m still not sure I will quilt the block borders. Sometimes I just have to wait and see what my hands decide.)

For the bobbin, I’ll use these. They’re different threads and different colors, but nearly indistinguishable. The back of this quilt is busy, and I will defy anybody to find a color change if I need to switch horses in the middle of the river. (It’s a quilt with bridges, right? How could I not use that horse/river metaphor?)

Okay, so that was my commitment for the “quilting” part of my day. I really wanted to get into the sewing room and work on the Zebra.

The second block for the third row was laid out. I just needed to sew it together.

And then I sewed, and sewed, and sewed my guts out until I’d completed the third row.

And there’s what I have of the Zebra so far.

Here’s where the title of this post comes in. Mike and I were talking about this the other night. If you’re a long-time blogging friend, then you know I keep a whiteboard listing of all my projects, and I have a workflow I follow pretty rigidly. I like having a lot of projects. It gives me lots of short-term goals to work on, and each project feels fresh whenever I work on it. Also, it keeps everything moving forward so that I don’t forget what I’m doing from one go-round to the next. 

Occasionally, though, a project comes along, and it causes me to shove everything else off the table and focus on it obsessively until it’s finished. Generally, these tend to be special requests from friends or family members. Baby quilts are a good example. Quilting is my hobby. But when I get in this mode of full steam ahead on a project, it becomes a mission. And all of that to say that my mission is only half accomplished. There is more to do. Oh, yes.

But I thought I might go insane if I sewed together any more squares for the day, and so I switched gears and traced the first stitchery for “Over the River and Through the Woods.” 

Happily, I can use that fabric I purchased for the Zebra, and then rejected. It’ll be great for this project. I was a little short on yardage. Fortunately, Meg Hawkey always had us cut generous backgrounds for embroidery. I cut my panels about an inch narrower on all four sides, and that gave me plenty of space to trace the design. They’ll be trimmed even more when they’re finished.

So, I traced the top scene. It took about an hour to cut the fabric and do all this tracing. I’m glad to have it done. 

I won’t start on that for a few more days. I’m still working on the Snow Days piece. And since I’m heading out early this morning, I don’t know if there will be time for any sewing today. Matthew and I are meeting up at a place called The Peculiarium. It’s billed as a museum of the “freaky but true.” Now, this I gotta see. We’ll get some lunch afterward. Should be fun.

Okay, then. It’s time to be on my way. Have a freaky day.

Cats in Pajamas Put to Bed

Good morning, my friends. It was a busy day yesterday, but I managed to get it all done with a little time to spare. We'd run out of the biscotti I baked last week, and I had my eye on some Sweet Cherry Jammers. These are made with some homemade sweet cherry jam...cherries from our trees. Think of a thumbprint cookie, then slide the cookie out from under the jam and shove in a biscuit. I wrote a lengthy post about this back in 2012. (Yikes.)

While I was mixing these up, I was shocked to find I didn't have enough all-purpose flour to get the job done. So I asked The Google if it was okay to substitute whole wheat flour for the all-purpose variety. The Google gave me the go ahead, and so I did just that. Honestly, I can't tell the difference, although they are a little darker in color.

While those were baking, I spent some time on my slow-stitching. I stitched until there was no more room for stitching...

And then, I moved my hoop to the right. There are a couple of little snowflakes outside my hoop in the lower left corner, but I'll capture those with a little more stitching there at the top. 

With that almost finished, I'm going to need to get busy tracing the first block for "Over the River and Through the Woods." I'll start with the top block, and that will take me some time.

That will be for another day, though. I was determined to finish my quilt binding for the Cats in Pajamas. And that's a wrap. It finishes at 72 x 72 inches. This was my project for 2024's Rainbow Scrap Challenge. It was started 1/2/24...nearly three years in the making.

Here's a peek at the back. I turned the back strategically so that you could see the two cats devoted to Smitty and Sadie. Smitty's cat has a striped tail and green eyes. Sadie's has a stubby tail and yellow eyes.

And then I needed one more block to finish off the second row for the Zebra project. Now the top two rows are finished...that's one-third of the whole, if you're keeping score.

Now I've sewn together the first block for the third row.

The second block for that row is laid out. I'll get busy sewing it together today. I doubt I can finish all the blocks for the third row in a single day, but I'll give it a righteous try.

With the Cats in Pajamas finished, it's time to turn my attention to the next in line to be quilted. I'll be starting on Grandpa's Bridges today. Mainly, I'll be selecting threads and getting the machine set up for quilting…adjusting tension…that sort of thing.  Probably I'll do the embroidered blocks in an off-white thread, and then switch to a variegated brown for the rest. 

There was a lot accomplished, but I was worn out by the end of the day. Also, I didn’t get my Bowflex workout done. I’m determined to get back to that today. Probably I’ll give the Zebra the bulk of my attention today. (I almost said “lions’ share,” but I should probably keep the lions away from the zebras. Wouldn’t you agree?)  As always, there's plenty to keep me busy. 

Matthew and I have a meet-up scheduled for tomorrow. The weather seems uncooperative for walking, but we'll figure something out. He's spoken up for the Cats in Pajamas quilt, so regardless, I'll come bearing gifts.

Four Corners

Good morning, my friends. It was a productive day yesterday. I'm closing in on a finish for the Cats in Pajamas. It should be an easy task to finish it today. Under Smitty's watchful eye, I turned the fourth corner on the binding.

And, duh. A quilt with cats on both sides obviously needs two quilt inspectors. Sadie was happy to help out.

It was a day-long effort, but all the while I was sewing, I was working on this Leek and Chanterelle Tart. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I used half chanterelle mushrooms and half cremini mushrooms. 

It isn't hard to make...even the crust was easy. But it requires a lot of waiting time. After making the crust, it has to be frozen for 30 minutes. Then, it's baked, but it has to cool before it can be filled. Then, the filling goes together easily, but it too needs to cool to room temperature before it can be added to the crust. When all is said and done, it must be baked another 25 minutes. It's worth the effort because it's delicious, but if you want to make it, my advice is to start early in the day.

Okay, and while I was in waiting mode, I had time to sew together the third block for the second row of the Zebra. Then, I sewed all three blocks together.

From there, I sewed together the fourth block.

I was getting kind of tired of sewing by then, and so I laid out the top row and what I had of the second row.

When I stopped for the day, I had the final block for the second row laid out. I'll endeavor to sew this together today, and sew the top two rows together.

It's a floor mopping day, and then I'll mop myself downstairs for a Bowflex workout. I'm confident I can finish the Cats in Pajamas today, and I should be able to get the top two rows for the Zebra sewn together. Probably I can get a start on the third row before the day is over too.

Mike has requested a pot roast for dinner tonight, and so I'll get that going by early afternoon. It's good pot roast weather. It started raining yesterday afternoon, although our weather has been downright decent this past week. We keep waiting for the Big Dark to begin. It's not here quite yet.

Okay, so there's  plenty to keep me busy today. How are you keeping busy on this Saturday?

Sewing: Day Three

Good morning, my friends. It was kind of a busy day yesterday. I had to drive into town for my haircut. Then, I stopped off at Wholly Too Expensive Foods to score some chanterelle mushrooms. The mushrooms were available, but packaged in 16 oz. packages. I really only wanted 8 oz., and so I quickly checked my Paprika app to see what I could do with the other 8 oz. No worries. I can make a Leek and Chanterelle Tart with those.  

Chanterelles in hand, I headed to our regular grocery store to return those dill pickle pistachios (perish the thought), and got the plain unsalted variety. Also, I picked up a few things I'd need for the Leek and Chanterelle Tart. I was home around 1:00 p.m. And after all that, I needed lunch and a nap.

There was still time in the afternoon for sewing. For the past three days, I’ve worked on the same projects. My first priority was the quilt binding, and I was able to make my way around the third corner.

There was still a little time left in the day, and so Sadie offered to help me sew together the second block for the second row of the Zebra quilt. She thought it was for her. She always fancied herself a calico cat, and she likes how those white patches complete the look of her lovely tortie fur coat.

She didn’t give it up easily. At the top of the image below, you can see she still has her foot on it. It’s like when you play checkers, and you can still change your mind as long as you don’t take your fingers off the checker.

Eventually, she agreed I could have it, and I was able to sew it to the first block. Here’s what I have for the second row so far:

After that, Sadie helped me lay out the squares for the third block. She watches me like a hawk to make sure I don’t put anything in the wrong place.

And there we go. A lot of black in this one. Fortunately, I’d cut lots of black squares the day before.

There wasn’t time to sew that together yesterday. I needed to get going on my risotto. It isn’t hard to make, but it takes some time. I’d already roasted the mushrooms earlier, but the rice takes some time to cook down and absorb the added liquid. This is Chanterelle Mushroom Risotto. Way back in 2011 (sheesh), I wrote a blog post about this. A link to the recipe is included in that post. When it was served up, it looked like this.

It’s a bit of a production to make it, and it dirties a lot of pans. Still, it’s so good, I have to make it every year when chanterelles are available.

As for the rest of those chanterelles, I’m going to make the tart I mentioned above. I needed a full pound of mushrooms, and now I only have 8 oz. The recipe tells me I can substitute creminis, and so I’ll use both. That’ll be on today’s agenda. On Fridays, I like for dinner to be something I can make ahead or or else reheat. This tart can be served at room temperature, and so I’ll make it earlier this afternoon. And since I haven’t tried it with the creminis before, I’m not linking to the recipe until I can say more about it…tomorrow. Patience, Grasshopper.

All right then. There are a couple of easy to-do’s on my list, and I want to go for a walk on the treadmill today. I like to watch documentaries while I’m walking, and today I’ll be starting an old PBS documentary about The Pilgrims. I’ve wanted to watch it for quite some time, and so it gives me something to look forward to. It’s my way of tricking myself into actually doing it.

There was no time for slow-stitching yesterday, and so I’m heading there next. Have a slow Friday, everybody.  

Another Sewing Day

Good morning, my friends. Yesterday looked a lot like the day before. It was kind of a busy morning, but as always, my day started with embroidery.

Having stitched that far, I decided to move my hoop up to be ready for today’s stitching. That takes me all the way to the top, but there’s still more on the left side.

There were a few things on my to-do list. I had one housekeeping chore, and…miracle of miracles…I’ve returned to my treadmill and Bowflex workouts. I’ve done one on each apparatus this week, so that’s two days in a row. Whoa. I’ll miss today with my haircut, but I’ll do my very, very, very, very best to get back to it tomorrow. With summer gardening done, and most any other outdoor activities on hold for a while, there needs to be more in-the-house movement. Use it or lose it, as they say.

So, when I was ready to commence with my sewing, I turned the second corner on the Cats in Pajamas.

And then I went to work on the Zebra. The first of six rows is finished now. The fifth block for this row was laid out. I sewed it together, and then I could sew all five blocks together.

After that, I had time to first block for the second row.

The second block for that row is laid out. More than likely, I’ll have time to sew this together today. No telling if there will be time for anything else today, but I’m also hoping to get around the third corner of my quilt binding.

Okay, so I’m writing fast this morning. I need to head out a little bit earlier than I like, but that’s life. On my way home, I’m going to stop at Whole Foods and try to score some chanterelle mushrooms. They usually have them this time of year. It’s time to make my annual Chanterelle Mushroom Risotto. Mike and I are Jonesing for it. That’ll be for tonight’s dinner, if I can find the mushrooms.

Also, I’m going to try to return a bag of pistachios we purchased on our grocery shopping trip. Usually, I have pistachios on hand because I use them in different recipes. Since I was running low, I grabbed a bag on Tuesday. When I got home with them, I realized they were dill flavored. What??? Does that even make sense? Who wants dill flavor with your pistachios? Well. That won’t work in my recipes, and so I’m going to try to exchange them for the plain old pistachio pistachios. Sheesh. Some people’s kids. (I used to work with a furniture salesman who said that all time time. It stuck with me.)

So that’s it from this end. It’ll be good to get my hair cut. It’s about two weeks overdue, and so it’s at the knife’s edge of driving me crazy. Sanity to be restored shortly. (Unapologetic pun, in case you missed it.) 

Marathon Sewing

Good morning, my friends. We had an epic grocery list yesterday because we hadn't been to the grocery store in nearly two weeks. On our way home, we passed by this pretty tree decked out in its fall colors. I've seen a few of these around with three colors of leaves on a single three.

Thankfully, the shopping was all done and the groceries put away before noon, which left me lots of time in the day for sewing. My first stop was to clip the Cats in Pajamas and get started hand-sewing the binding. Before I stopped for the day, I'd turned the first corner.

From there, I spent the rest of the afternoon on the Zebra quilt. The first four blocks are finished. I've sewn together the three blocks on the left. I'll sew the fourth and fifth blocks together before I sew them to the rest. When I had it this far, I needed to cut more squares in every color. That took up the rest of my sewing time for the day.

Before I turned out the lights, I laid out the squares for the fifth block. I should have plenty of time to sew this together and complete the first of six rows.

The only other thing I have to tell you about is making these biscuits for last night's dinner. We'll finish them off tonight. We had some leftover chili, but we'd eaten all the cornbread I made last week. These Cheddar Bay Biscuits...a copycat recipe from Red Lobster…seemed like a good accompaniment for our leftover chili.

So there's not a lot going on today. I have a couple of things on my to-do list, but it's going to look a lot like yesterday. Hand-sewing will continue on the Cats in Pajamas, and I'll keep making blocks for the Zebra until I run out of time. Since I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow, I'm hoping to get in a good day of sewing today.

When you looked outside this morning, did the sky look a little bluer than it has been in a while? The future is looking just a little brighter this morning. Have a celebratory day, Everybody!

Bind On

Good morning, my friends. There wasn't as much time for sewing yesterday as I'd hoped, but the binding is sewn on the Cats in Pajamas, and that project is on the home stretch. We had almost not a single bite of food in the house for lunch, and so we ended up driving into town for a second McRib. Usually, we limit ourselves to one per seasonal offering, but what the heck, right? 

Before we left, I took some time for slow-stitching.

There's enough done on the left side that I decided to move my hoop to the right to encompass that side. There's still plenty to be done at the top, but it's moving along.

Okay, now this next bit requires some explanation. In yesterday's post, I had the first block for the Zebra project laid out. Looking at the image below, I was still uneasy about the contrast between the two lightest tan colors. In the picture, you almost can’t tell the difference. (I’m looking at the left column, 3rd and 4th from the bottom.) Since I wanted to get started on it, I was willing to live with that, but it was on my mind whenever I thought about sewing this together. My fear was that it would bother me even after it was finished.

Then, as we were driving into town for lunch, I remembered there are two shops in town that have small inventories of fabric for sale. I figured I might be able to pick up a color I liked better. Sure enough. When we got home, I laid the first color on top of the just-purchased color, and I liked that a lot better.

And that looks so much better now that I have the squares sewn into a block. This took a lot longer than expected. Somehow I got things out of order, and so I had to unsew and resew several of them. When it was finished, it looked like this. This is Block 1 of 30 blocks. 

Okay, and I was determined to get the binding sewn onto the Cats in Pajamas. That took the remainder of my sewing day, but it's ready for hand-sewing now. I'll get started on that today.

So when I said there wasn't a bite of food in the house, did you wonder if we were going grocery shopping at some point? Well, yes, as a matter of fact. We were putting it off until today because the first Tuesday is senior discount day. It doesn't save us a lot of money, but it's still worth the wait if we can make it work.

That's going to cut into my sewing day some, but I'm hoping to get well along with the Zebra today. If I can get the top row of blocks finished, I'll consider that a good day of sewing. 

What's going on in your sewing room today?