Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word

It was a very nice day yesterday. It was nice weather-wise, and it was nice sewing-wise. Oh yes, and dessert...don't forget dessert! I'll tell you about that in a minute. First...the sewing.

Most of the day was spent working on the background. I worked on it one 6 x 6 grid section at a time, interspersing housekeeping chores between each one. To start, I was finishing off the two sections to the right of the bird. This is the fifth section.

Then I went to work on the sixth and final section for the top row. And, well, this was worrisome.

Despite significant help, I finished off the first six sections that make up the top row.

When that was finished, it was time for lunch, and I found myself in a baking mood.

So here's the thing: even though we're dieting, I've proclaimed a "First Friday" rule. The proclamation goes thus:

Okay...so the queen (that would be me) has spoken. I was in the mood to try out the apple pie filling I made from the apples off Erik and Mae's tree. My own thinking was a straight-up apple pie, but then Mike started whining about apple crisp, and so I got the idea to make a Dutch Apple Pie for Two. And this turned out great. We had it with ice cream last night.

It was super easy too. I used a Pillsbury Pie Crust for the bottom crust, and then a pint jar of my own apple pie filling. Then, I used a topping from a recipe I found online. This is how I did it:

2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup melted butter

Mix that all together and then sprinkle it over the top. Then bake it in a 350°F oven for 40 minutes and voila! So yummy. And even if you don't have your own canned apple pie filling, you can use a single can from the grocery store. The topping was so nice and crunchy. I'll definitely do this again. If you're wondering about that little pie plate, it's from Anchor Hocking. Now that I've started making pies for two, I have one in the house, one in the fifth wheel, and one in the truck camper...in case of dessert emergencies on the road, you know. I believe in being prepared.

Okay, so back to work. I started on the next row. By day's end, I'd finished two sections to the right of the bird. That's the bird's beak in the upper right-hand corner. That one fabric photographs gray, but it's actually a very pale blue.

Here's what I have so far.

Now don't you know I'm pretty excited to get started on it today because the next section will have a significant portion of the bird. These mosaics are so much fun to make, and they almost literally keep me pushing forward so that I can see the subject emerge from the background.

It was a good day in mail too. I was king of excited to win a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop in last month's OMG Challenge. I've been watching folks on the Facebook groups free motion quilting these "Dream Big" panels from Hoffman Fabrics. They come in a number of colors. The panel is 42 x 42 inches, and folks have been practicing their free motion quilting, essentially quilting a whole cloth quilt. So, I've been looking and watching and wishing, but every time I went to make a purchase of one, I'd hold back, not wanting to spend the money. Enter the gift certificate, and it was an easy choice.

For now, it'll just get added to the quilts-to-be-sandwiched-for-quilting pile, which is growing by leaps and bounds. Eventually, I'll get to it, and it'll be good practice.

Also in yesterday's mail, the #melissapaintmycat painting of Sadie.

It turned out pretty cute, I think. These are painted by Melissa Averinos. I've decided to trim both paintings of the kitties down from 8-1/2 x 11 to an 8 x 10 size so they'll fit in an 8 x 10 frame. They'll fit better side by side on the wall that way, and there's plenty of room to trim them down a little bit.

At day's end, I looked out the dining room sliding glass doors to see this tree all aglow in the Autumn sunshine.

It's definitely looking like fall here, and the days have been sunny, but blustery. The kitties don't like the wind, and so they've been a little reluctant to go outside. We paused a good long time at the open door this morning before venturing out. They only stay out about five minutes before they're back inside again.

Check out that size difference between the two. Smitty is a bigger than average cat. Sadie is smaller than average. Together, they're quite a pair.

While we were out this morning, I snapped this picture of our dwarf Japanese maple tree. Unless I miss my guess, it'll be a fiery orange very soon.

I have one dreaded household chore today which consists of polishing the big ventilation fan over the cooktop. It comes up for its turn on my calendar about every three months or so, and I've skipped over it the last several times. It's probably time to bite the bullet and do it. Aside from that, it's an NBS day.