Thinking about Sewing

Before I get started, I want to acknowledge receiving an email from my postcard swap partner, Liz. Liz, you are no-reply, and I don't have any way to contact you, but thank you for letting me know your postcard arrived. I'm glad you like it. It was a fun little swap. The postcard from my other swap partner will be arriving at Erik and Mae's home, and I've asked them to keep a watch for it. So far, I've heard nothing, but possibly I'll send them an email and remind them I'm expecting it. Now I'm curious to see what mine will be. The deadline for mailing isn't until Saturday, and so it's possible it's still in the works.

As for yesterday's goings on, we were both gluttonous and slothful. I think it's the influence of California, don't you? For one thing...we're going great guns on our diet, but Mike got a yen for one of these:

There's one just down the street from us here at the RV park, and so it's a bit of a tradition to go at least once while we're here. We don't have them in Oregon...except for one in Medford, which is a day's drive away. But we're not bitter about this lack of In 'n Outs in Oregon...much. I managed to avoid getting a chocolate milk shake...just barely.

We made up for our sins by getting right back on the diet at dinner. I made an adaptation of yesterday's dinner, which was this recipe for Lemony Grilled Shrimp Salad.

We're looking for any and all recipes that use avocado, and this was one of them. The diet recipe wanted me to put the shrimp on a skewer and grill them that way. I just did mine in a skillet, using the same seasonings I would have if I'd put them on a skewer. I couldn't see any reason for that.

Also, the original recipe had jicama sliced into matchsticks. I just used some carrot and zucchini slaw bagged mix I got at the grocery store. Also, the diet gives you some suggested side dishes. This one included some baked zucchini chips and some haricots verts (please, just say green beans). The asparagus looked good to me, and so I substituted steamed asparagus, and I added a little extra salad dressing to that. It was pretty tasty, and a good way to feel as if we hadn't strayed from the diet. We'll just pretend that didn't happen, okay?

The other sinful thing I did yesterday was to gaze at some of Jane Kakaley's quilt patterns in her Etsy Shop. Well, let me tell you...that was a mistake, because I couldn't resist this one. I bought it and downloaded it to my Dropbox. Now I can't wait to start it, but that will have to wait until we get home.

You might recall when I made her sunflower mosaic as a guild challenge for the "Initially Yours" challenge. Mine was adapted to fit the parameters of the challenge. The challenge was to make something using our initials...in my case, "BS." My quilt was called "Blooming Sunflower." Yes, I was mightily tempted to do something significantly less classy.

These mosaics are made from 1 1/2 inch squares (unfinished), and the quilts are completely engrossing to work on. I loved making the sunflower, and I have a few more of her patterns to work on. The cardinal was so pretty though, and I needed it desperately. I think we quilters need to come up with some sort of acronym to represent patterns we've purchased that are waiting in line to be started. It isn't really a UFO until you've actually cut some fabric, right? With that in mind, here's an idea:

PINS = Patterns I Never Started

Feel free to use it in your own sewing. I'll start using it in mine.

Okay, so what else is going on? Well, I've been doing a lot of walking, but my knee got kind of irritated yesterday, and so I'm taking today off. Instead, I went on a stitching marathon. This kind of marathon is easy on the knees. Now I've finished the Northeast corner of my latest quilt block.

I'm going to say this one is about 2/3 finished now.

The hoop is moved west now, and I'll get a start on that sometime today or tomorrow.

As for thinking about sewing, I've been thinking about trying the mini that was in the pack of postcards I purchased from Temecula Quilt Co. last week. March's mini was this one:

If memory serves, the whole quilt ended up at about 12 x 12 inches. So I had in mind to search through the scraps I have with me, but that seemed like a lot of trouble. Besides, I have in mind to make four of these little minis add a sashing and a border and sew them into a table topper for St. Patrick's Day. For that I would need more fabric than I have with me.

With that in mind, we looked for a quilt shop nearby. There was one listed online, but when we went to the address, we learned it isn't a brick and mortar shop...just an online shop...so, never mind. The only option here in Hemet is JoAnn, and so we headed off there. It turned out to be a good deal because all their St. Patrick's Day fabric was already marked down, and I got over four yards of fabric for about $4 per yard (average).

Nothing's been started, but at least I'm past the thinking stage. Maybe by the end of the week, I'll get started on it.

As for the next couple of days, I'll be baking a pie for Pi Day tomorrow. Also, you might remember when we met up with our friends at Lake Brownwood State Park in Brownwood, Texas.

Well, it just so happens that Bill and Lenelda are visiting with family here locally, and so we've hatched a plan to meet at a winery on Thursday. It makes me feel sort of cosmopolitan meeting up with the same friends in two different states in less than a month's time. Just think of us as jetsetters, minus the jets.

So, there are a few things on the agenda for the next few days. Relaxation is still our watchword, however. There's going to be lots to do when we get home, and that will happen soon enough.