What's Happening In Perkatory

It's the worst day of the year because I have a fasting blood draw this morning (just routine), and that means I haven't had my coffee. I cannot be held responsible for anything I say or write. Also, I haven't had my breakfast, and my stomach is grumbling

Which brings me to something really worth grumbling about...paper-piecing. Yesterday's bout reminded me why I hate paper-piecing so much. First, there's the mess, and the waste, and the pieces that are too small. But the worst part is realizing a couple of pieces down the road that you should have used a different color back there, and there's really no way to fix it. That's what happened yesterday on the first section of the day. See the little black piece marked with an arrow?

I was several steps down the road when I realized I'd used red where I should have used black. I tried unsuccessfully to fix just that one piece, but then ended up backing up several steps and starting over with it. At least I didn't have to reprint the paper, which brings a whole other level of frustration to this process. I print on newsprint to make the paper easier to remove, but my printer doesn't like it, and it won't feed through. I have to tape the newsprint to a regular sheet of copy paper and then run them through together. Don't even get me started on how long it took to print all the pages of the pattern.

Once I had that first section done, the rest went pretty well, but I was already in a seriously bad mood. I think I was already anticipating this morning's lack of coffee.

And there was time left for another section.

And another.

And that's where I left it for the day. The pattern can be sewn together in two halves, and then the halves sewn together to complete the whole. I have just one section left on the first half, which should be easy enough to finish today. After that, there are just six more sections, and so I'm confident I can finish it off by tomorrow.

Also, I wasn't sure what I was going to use for the back, and so I took a little stroll in Ye Online Fabric Shoppe last night and came away with two yards of this:

Perfect, huh? I really didn't need two yards, but it'll make a cute Quilts for Kids quilt one of these days.

There was another new recipe in the kitchen, and it took some time. It was a way to use Fava beans, one of the mystery CSA vegetables...a mystery because I never know what to do with them. I've been holding on to this recipe for at least a year, waiting for the expected Fava beans to make an appearance. This is Beer-Braised Chicken Stew with Fava Beans and Peas, and it was pretty darned good.

I'm not a beer drinker, and so when the recipe called for a "Belgian Beer," I had no idea what that meant. Mike informed me we had a bottle of Fat Tire in our refrigerator, which turned out to be exactly the right thing. It has a mild flavor, and even someone who doesn't care for beer (that would be me) liked this dish. I made it just as the recipe suggested, using boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

And I really shouldn't be talking about food because I'm hungry, and I'm missing my coffee. In fact, I'm downright Depresso.

Fortunately, I have a little cat waiting for me downstairs.

She's not depresso...she's just comfy. Time for some slow-stitching.