A Teaser of a Finish

It was a busy morning yesterday. We had lunch plans with a friend from out of town, and so I hurried around in the morning getting all my stuff done. Flowers needed watering, vegetables needed harvesting, furniture needed dusting, and floors needed vacuuming. And...no flies on me...I got it all done with time to spare. Of course, nothing could happen until I'd done my morning slow stitching. I got a small smart on the eighth plate for Pieces of the Past.

We had a nice lunch with our friend, and there was still time for sewing when we got home again. Of course, I had the whole kitten kaboodle of the cat crew to assist me.

We were a little worried about Smitty. After his teeth cleaning the day before, it took him quite a while to perk up. He slept most of the afternoon and seemed to be communicating a feeling of malaise and lethargy. We'd planned to call the vet if he hadn't perked up by this morning. Fortunately, he seems back to his old cattankerous self today.

There was just a little bit of quilting to do on my challenge quilt, and then I added the binding.

While we watched the news, I hand-stitched the binding. Here's your peek.

Of course no quilt can be pronounced complete without a full complement of cat fuzz, especially black quilts. I still want to embellish it a little bit, but this is the last time you'll see it before the reveal on November 1st.

That took me right up to dinnertime. On the "ways with zucchini" category, I made this Marinated Veggie Cheese Sandwich with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto. I've made this before, and it is really tasty. 

One of my morning tasks was to get the vegetables marinating. This can be done just an hour before grilling them, but I wanted to give them more time. They're marinated in a combination of balsamic vinegar, thyme, olive oil, garlic, and a little crushed red pepper. I used half the amount of dried thyme in mine. The only other change I made was to use red leaf lettuce in place of the arugula. (Mike isn't fond of arugula, and so I usually substitute something else.) Oh yes, and I toasted the sandwich buns rather than grilling them, as the recipe suggested. Mike grilled the veggies and then it was a simple finish to layer more of the sun-dried tomato pesto, provolone, and goat cheese. They're a meal in and of themselves, but I served them alongside some of the refrigerator pickles made recently. Mmm, mmm, mmm. Now there are leftovers for today's lunch.

Okay, so today I'm getting my eyes checked. I doubt my prescription has changed much if any, and so I'm turning in an old pair of glasses to have them converted to prescription sunglasses. There should be some time for sewing this afternoon. Finally, I'll get back to my "next" project from earlier in the month. I'll be quilting the Quilt Shop redwork piece.

There won't be much to do on this aside from adding in some details. If I'm feeling brave, I might try quilting those little quilt blocks at the top, and I'll add some folds in the ladies' dresses. There isn't much more on today's agenda, and so the afternoon will be mostly sewing. Our farmers have confirmed I'll be picking up 60 lbs. of their beautiful Roma tomatoes on Saturday. After that, I'll be canning in earnest for several days. It'll be nice to have a day or two to relax before I get going on the pasta sauce. Summer is winding down. There is still much to do, but I'm looking forward to fall. How about you?