Weekend Mapped

There was lots of slow stitching yesterday. For one thing, I hand-stitched the binding for My Vintage Kitchen.

And then I hung it on the wall above my breakfast bar. It looks so cheery there.

I wanted to show you my new method for hanging small quilts. This one is only 13-1/2 inches wide. First, I run a bamboo skewer through the top of the binding. If your stitches are at least a quarter inch apart, it will fit easily. This quilt is a little wider than a skewer is long, and so I ran a skewer on each side. They overlap a little in the middle, but it's not a problem. The purpose of the skewer is to prevent the corners from collapsing after it's hung.

Here's one method for hanging a small quilt...just sew a ring tab to the top. I've done many small quilts this way.

Recently, however, I got this bright new idea for using a safety pin in place of the ring tab. For one thing...no sewing. For another, it's easy to move it or REmove it altogether if you need to for some reason. Then, use a small nail and hang it using the loop of the safety pin that I've circled just there.

Easy, huh? I did the same thing for Maggie's Pawtrait, which has taken its place in the Cat Mewseum now right there next to Samson and Feed the Cat. That wall is starting to fill up now.

Finishing up My Vintage Kitchen put me in the mood for baking, and so I baked these Pumpkin Muffins with Oats and Orange Marmalade. Mike is all about anything orange and I still have pumpkin puree left from last year's CSA share.

They needed to cool five minutes in the muffin tin and then I had one with my afternoon cup of espresso. Very tasty and not too sweet. The topping gives them a nice little crunch.

The rain let up for a minute then, and so I went outside to fill the birdfeeders. While I was out, I snapped a picture of the daphne. You might remember I've worried about the daphne because it's been in the ground about five years, but never gets more than a blossom or two. This year it's loaded with the most fragrant blossoms, despite getting knocked back by an ice storm in November. I think it's finally established itself.

It turned out to be a pretty nice afternoon with sunshine from about 3:00 on. Both Smitty and Maggie were able to get outside. I actually lost track of Maggie for a while, and thinking she was inside, I closed the door. Shortly after that, I heard a scuffle and the sound of many running feet, and she and Smitty appeared at the door. I was able to let her in immediately, and so I don't think she was traumatized by the momentary lock-out. The two of them are hard to figure out these days. One minute he's chasing her, and the next she's chasing him. It's hard to tell whether they're playing or being aggressive, but we're letting them work it out.

By evening, the thunderheads were moving in again, and the rain returned. We're expecting rain every day between now and next Thursday. And since it's been raining all week, we're growing weary of the weather.

This morning, we had a view of the mountain, which we haven't seen for quite some time. Nice to know it's still there for viewing.

It was a nice to see it while I sat and did more hand-stitching on Hocuspocusville. It's getting near a finish now.

I've moved the hoop and it's ready to go again. A few more sittings and this one will be done.

It's going to be a busy weekend, and since weekends are ordinarily when I work on the Live, Love, Teach quilt blocks, I'll probably work on one of those today...this one created by Buzz.

I'll do it in fusible applique. I think all of the top-stitching can be done by machine, and then I'll hand-stitch Buzz's name. It shouldn't take very long.

Saturday, my daughter-in-law Mae and I are attending an all-day "Spring Into Gardening" event put on by the county's Master Gardeners Association. There are four seminars. Mae and I are attending the ones on using native plants in home landscaping, restoring established landscapes, growing vegetables in small spaces, and one about bees called "Your Landscape: Pollinator Desert or Dessert?" The day includes lunch, and so I'm looking forward to learning some gardening techniques. Moreover, I'm looking forward to spending the day with Mae.

Sunday, we're going to the Portland RV show. For RVers they're loads of fun, and we're still investigating those new larger truck campers. We're hoping to buy a used one at some point, and the RV show gives us a chance to see future used ones. We'll let somebody else make the initial outlay of cash for the new ones.

And there you go. A life mapped out for a few days at least.