Procraftinating

Yesterday morning, I was determined to get right on making the applesauce because it was also a CSA pick-up day, which means my day ends at 3:30, for all intents and purposes. So what did I do? Well, of course, I made a quilt sandwich for the new free motion quilting sampler that Lori Kennedy is starting up over at The Inbox Jaunt. This week, we're just making our quilt sandwiches.

There was a good-sized scrap of a Kona solid orange in my stash, and so I used that for both front and back. Also, I had a large spool of thread leftover from a quilt I sent to a long-arm quilter quite some time ago. I supplied the thread I wanted when she did the quilting, and so it came back to me when she was finished. Variegated thread seems like a good choice for this project.

Laid it out on the fabric, it looks like it might be very pretty for a sunflower.

It's a Signature polyester thread. Usually I'm a cotton purist, but lately I've decided to branch out a little more with the kinds of thread I'm using. Whenever I see folks talking about the kinds and weights of thread they're using, I always feel a little feeble-minded...and, when you think about it, it isn't at all surprising. Still, if I can start waxing on about my threads and their weights as if I know what I'm talking about, surely others will miss the fact that my brain turned to applesauce somewhere along the way.

And just to prove my point, I'll just say that I have a spool of yellow Bottom Line thread. When I purchased the Bottom Line some years ago, it was because lots of quilters liked it in their bobbins. That wasn't my experience, and I couldn't get the tension right on my old Bernina 440. I've never tried it again.

Since purchasing a TOWA gauge a while back, my tension problems have improved significantly, and so I'm going to give this another try...and I'm not saying I won't change my feeble mind.

So now I have my quilt sandwich and my threads. Did you ever see that television advertisement with the woman standing at the doors of a closed department store saying, "Open! Open! Open!"? That's how I feel about this. The actual quilting will start a week from now, and it's hard to wait.

As long as we're talking about brains of applesauce, here's what I made yesterday. It ended up being about 12 pints total. My pint jar supply has dwindled to 10 jars, and so there is a bonus in the refrigerator.

Maybe now that I've run out of pint jars, I can restrain myself from doing any more canning. I've done more canning this season than ever before, and frankly, I am sick to death of it. Even knowing that, I was seriously considering making some Sweet Hot Chili Pepper Jelly yesterday afternoon when I saw my CSA farm-ily members posting pictures of their jelly on Facebook. Oh yes, and I have the little four-ounce jars that I need. And I have peppers coming out of my ears. (Brings quite a picture to mind, doesn't it?) Fortunately, I also have a recipe for some white chicken chili that will use all of the peppers, and so it looks as if I'm safe from Obsessive Canner Self for now.

Before I forget, I wanted to update you on the pickled radishes I made a couple of weeks ago. Actually, about ten day ago. I was supposed to wait 2 weeks to open them, but I only lasted 10 days.

Well, as it turns out, they are really good! They're kind of stinky, and that was our experience with the quick pickled daikon radishes I made earlier this year. I'm not sure what accounts for the stinkiness of radishes when they're pickled, but fair warning. Don't say I didn't tell you. Anyway...if you check back at this blog post, you can find my link to the recipe with the adaptations I made. Stinky or no, now I'll be looking forward to receiving radishes in our CSA share.

So that brings me to true confessions because despite my claims that I was going to get two rows of blocks done on the Cats of a Different Color, I spent my day making applesauce. No more quilting was done yesterday unless you count the stippling I did to finish up the yellow cat. It has whiskers and stripes now too.

Today I'll pick up with quilting the sashings and cornerstones for this block, and then I'll be on to the next one. Today there is a little bit of housework to do, but otherwise, it's going to be NBS: Nothing But Sewing.

Before I finish off, I want to say that I received my prize package from Heidi for winning the OMG challenge last month. Included were two catnip mice for Sadie and Smitty. Well, don't you know Sadie grabbed hers out of the package practically before I could get it opened.

She played with it for hours while Smitty amused himself just by watching her. Later in the evening, he went after his too. These were a real hit.

So off I go. Serious quilting ahead.