Loose Ends

Yesterday was a day of checking in on things that have been neglected while we've been traveling. The bird feeders were empty, and so I filled those. There was no hummingbird nectar, and so I made that and then filled the hummingbird feeders. There were tomatoes in great need of harvesting, and so I picked 12 pounds of the ripest tomatoes.

There are literally hundreds of tomatoes still on the vine, and so canning season isn't over just yet. I'm happy about this because I'd like to can enough plain old diced tomatoes to get through the winter. Tomatoes are one of the few things I still buy in cans, beans being the other notable item. Last year I was able to can the last of the tomatoes and ended up with 8 pints, which didn't nearly take us through. So far this season, I already have 8 pints. There is probably an upper limit, but I'll just keep canning until I run out of shelf space, friends, neighbors, and anybody else willing to allow me to foist tomatoes on.

Speaking of foisting, zucchini anybody? This is what happens when you leave your zucchini plants unattended. Looks like they've been having some kind of party growing until they are the size of a caveman's club. 

The zucchini were planted for their blossoms this year, and they are still blooming away, much to the delight of the bees. As for the zucchini, we had our fill quite a while back. These got heaved down the side of the hill, which helps keep my pitching arm in shape. I'll catch the smaller ones and harvest them if we're in the mood. Zucchini fritters are quite a delight, and so I might make some more of those. As for these...well, they might make good weapons if you need to club someone.

While checking out the monster zucchini, I noticed that two of the six echinacea plants have buds on them. 

I'm hoping there's still enough warm weather left that I'll actually get some blossoms before it's too late. They are supposed to be a perennial, but sometimes a hard frost or an ice storm will kill them off.

This sunflower started growing randomly before we left on our trip. I figured it was one of the black oil sunflowers that the squirrels raid from the birdfeeders and then plant in random spots. We always leave those alone. As it turns out, this was a stray seed from one of the ones I planted myself. What a nice surprise!

After the yard work was caught up, it was time to give my sewing machine some quality time. Smitty was just glad to get some of the dried catnip I keep in the sewing room. He likes both fresh and dried. Think of it as kitty snuff.

After unpacking Sunday evening, I'd just started sewing the strips together for the pumpkins on the Pumpkin Patch table topper. Yesterday I finished those up and then created the pumpkin blocks by adding the corners and the strip across the top.

After that, I fused the leaves and the stems. The top-stitching took a while, but when it was finished, I sewed the corner blocks together.

Then it was time to sew together the middle block.

When that was finished, I was ready to assemble all the blocks.

Lastly, there were two borders and this top was finished.

This is my project for the September "Let's Book It" challenge.

There are several quilts in line ahead of it and so it won't get quilted for this season's use. I'll have it ready next year, however. We'll probably be traveling by then, but at 28 x 28 inches, this will fit the little table in our fifth wheel. 

This morning I finished all the stitching on Block 7 of Hocuspocusville.

The next time I work on this (in a couple of months, probably), I'll be stitching this one. I think this block might have the most stitching of the group.

This morning was reserved for running around. I started out meeting Erik for breakfast...always a good way to start the day. After that I needed to stop off at the post office, and I needed a few things from the grocery store. Then, it was time for a badly-needed pedicure and then home to write this post. It's a CSA pick-up day, and I have just a little time left before I need to head over to the farm.

Tomorrow I'll have another day at home, and so I'll get started quilting the Written in Thread quilt. 

This one won't take long since it's a small wall-hanging. Those little borders around the embroidered blocks are only half an inch, and so I'm not sure yet whether to do straight line quilting there, stitch in the ditch, or something a little more squiggly. When it's finished, it'll be as much of a surprise to me as it is to you.