Tastes Like Chicken

It was a great sewing day yesterday...the first in quite some time. Although I've had some time for sewing most days, I've felt as if I'm squeezing it in between a million other to-do list items. It was nice to feel unhurried. Today will be different. We're gearing up to leave on a little trip to the lake on Tuesday, and so I'll be making another quick trip to the grocery store and then packing food for a five-day trip. I'm keeping it simple for this outing, with very little to be prepared ahead of time. Mike has a new small barbecue, and so he'll be doing a lot of the cooking while we're away.

As for yesterday's activities, I hurried to get my housekeeping chores finished, and then I had all afternoon to spend sewing. My first task was to trace out the next block for Friendship's Garden. I'm nearly finished with the Snow Globes block. With our trip coming up, I was in need of a block that would carry me for five days.

Also, I have the next names for the Shop Hop quilt to work on, and those two should carry me through.

It would be disastrous if I ran out of embroidery to work on. With our boat and a lake nearby, where would I go? What would I do?

With that done, I was determined to get a block made for the Chicken Buffet quilt. This is the 8th of 12 blocks for this quilt. Honestly, these blocks are so funny, I might decide to finish it off because I know I'm going to love the finished quilt. Yesterday's block was Chicken Chow Mein. They always start with making the background four-patch.

Next came the fusing.

Then, the top-stitching. I used quite a bit of metallic thread (shudder) on the kimono and fan, and it was completely cooperative with the buttonhole stitch and the triple stitch on the sewing machine.

The fan didn't particularly look like a fan to me, and so I decided to stitch in the "folds."  Mike recognized it instantly, and so I'm thinking it was effective.

The little hanging tendrils were another challenge. They're so thin, and the buttonhole stitch extended all the way across. I straight-stitched up the opposing side, and that turned out okay.

The last step was to use the machine lettering to stitch in the name of the block. The original pattern used some sort of machine embroidery to stitch the names on a separate piece of fabric. Then, they appear to be cut out and fused on. I decided to do mine directly on the block. There are little scraps of stabilizer on the reverse side.

So there. It was good to move this project along. I have four projects on my list that still have sections, rows, and blocks to be made. While I'm sewing, sewing, sewing, I've been hard pressed to make any progress on those four. My friend Kate observed that it's hard to get the older projects moving along, even as progress is made on the newer ones. It's the same way in my sewing room. What is that, anyway? I'd really like to get the older projects finished so I can start some new ones, and yet, it seems difficult to find time. Oh well. Onward into sewing room battle I go.

It was moving toward dinner time by then. I need to tell you about this latest recipe from our diet. This one was so quick and easy, and it was delicious. This is Cantonese-Style Shrimp and Napa Cabbage...only, I used regular cabbage from our CSA share. Also, I look for the frozen shrimp that is already peeled and deveined. It saves a lot of time and effort. The secret to getting it all cooked at the same time is to shred the cabbage thin.

The cabbage in our CSA share is this little "gnome cabbage." They're about half the size of a regular head of cabbage, which is a perfect size for two. Here's a picture of one. Aren't they cute?

I was a little slow on the switch using this one, and it rolled around in the crisper for a while. It was a little bruised when I took it out, but I just peeled the outer two leaves off, and it was good as new.

It was warm enough to sit outside for dinner last night. While we were sitting, I inspected the second cherry tomato plant for tomatoes. This is the one that was eaten so severely, probably by deer. I'm surprised it survived, but now it's grown tall, and it has lots of flowers. With so many flowers, I thought there must be some cherry tomatoes somewhere. After a few minutes, I found several. They are about the size of peas.

And then I was motivated to take a walk around the garden to see what's blooming. All of the hydrangeas are opening now. This is the largest of our plants, and the first one we planted when we moved in here in 2002.

This next one was added about a year later. It has a variegated flower.

The echinacea is getting closer and closer. It's petals are still curled up.

This is the sunflower that fell over and uprooted itself last week. I discovered it before too much harm was done, and now it's very close to blooming.

Remember the bend in the stalk I showed you last week?

I thought it was there for good, but it's done a pretty good job of straightening itself out.

So, I'll be back tomorrow with a little more news, but then I'll be signing off for a few days. There's a surprise in store for you while we're gone though, so don't go far. I'll be posting a giveaway on Friday to celebrate my Eighth Blogiversary. Stay tuned.