Sewing and Cats

While I was writing yesterday's post, I realized I couldn't continue on with my next WIP until I'd done some embroidery. And so when I stepped away from the keyboard, I went straight to the sewing room to make up the next Shop Hop embroidered panel. The next shop on my list was Durango Quilt Company in Durango, Colorado. These go pretty quick. I first print the name and place onto a sheet of paper. I have a file saved on my computer so that the font and size are consistent from block to block. Then I trace them onto the fabric.

Instead of working on the Domestic Affairs block, I substituted this one for yesterday morning's slow stitching. It took about 45 minutes, and then it was finished.

There were some errands to run in town, and so it was later in the afternoon before I was able to make my way into the sewing room. There, I found Ms. Rough-and-Ready waiting to offer her sewing expurrtise.

After explaining to her that I'd already made this block five times before, she agreed I probably didn't need any help, and purrceeded to take a nap in her nearby kitty bed. I can tell you one of the most pleasing sounds in my sewing room is her snoring away in her bed and out of my hair.

In fairly short order, the block was finished.

You can find the pattern for the polaroid picture block right here. Here are all the quilt shop blocks I have for this quilt so far.

There is also a camera block, and so I actually have 7 blocks out of the 15 I'll need.

You can find the tutorial for the camera block from Crafty Staci, right here.

It's going to be a busy day in the garden and the kitchen today, and so I don't expect I'll have any time for sewing. One never knows, however. I'm hopeful to get at least one more quilt block made before I have to start packing for our trip in earnest. The next block on my list is the Huevos Rancheros block for the New Mexico Kitchen quilt. This is the image from the pattern cover. Sorry for the blur, but it's blurred on the cover.

These blocks generally take a while, and adding the fringe to the table cloth at the bottom is a royal pain. Still, when they're all finished, I think this is going to make a really pretty and colorful quilt.

Smitty is improving day by day, but he's still got the snuffles. Yesterday found him more lively and engaged. He's been spending his afternoons in his favorite spot on the catio. Yesterday, he had his face to the sun. 

We had to put that board up when the squirrels chewed through the fencing there, not once, but twice. It rudely blocks Smitty's view. Mike is going to replace it with metal fencing next year. He replaced the fencing on that side after the squirrels chewed through it the first time. Then, within 24 hours, they'd chewed through it again. Pretty exasperating, and I don't blame him for not wanting to replace the fencing yet again this summer.

Today will be a kitchen day. I'm preparing some dishes ahead for our get-together with the kids tomorrow, and I'm making a test recipe for America's Test Kitchens. I had a dessert in mind already, but then received their email with a dessert test recipe. What the heck, I figure. Might as well make it when I have the family here to help test it and eat it. So we'll have two desserts: a test dessert, and an emergency back up dessert in the form of the Original Plum Torte. I'll harvest the first of the plums, and make the torte tomorrow. 

Also today I'll be making a potato salad and harvesting some corn. We'll have the corn with our dinner tomorrow, but I'm going to make some corn chowder for dinner tonight. I have a recipe that is delicious, and it's one of the recipes I make every year when fresh garden corn is available. I'll say more about that in tomorrow's post. If you really can't wait until tomorrow, I wrote about this process and shared the recipe last year. Just click right here to read it. 

Okay, so I need to get moving if I'm going to get anything done. The day always starts with a little slow-stitching, and that's where I'm headed next.