Easy-Going Day

Good morning, my friends. Our air quality was much improved yesterday, but it appears more hazy again today. Oh well. Things could be so much worse, and so we're not complaining. When I came upstairs to write this post, I found Smitty taking up prime quilt real estate on Mike's lap.

That was okay with Sadie. She purrfurs her studio apartment on the catio.

Smitty is feeling better every day. He's not sneezing as much as he was, and his breathing sounds less congested. Yesterday, he used the poppy foliage to scratch his sniffly nose.

He's been auditioning for a new role reprising the old television show, Rin Tin Tin. (Please tell me you're old enough to remember Rin Tin Tin.) 

To be honest, I'm only barely old enough to remember. Rin Tin Tin was a dog, but Smitty doesn't see any reason why a cat couldn't play the part.

A cat playing Rin Tin Tin...Smitty that's purrposterous.

Well, back inside, I was getting ready to sit down with my slow stitching when I realized I could accomplish two tasks at once. So, I mixed up some Blueberry Zucchini Bread. It had an hour to bake while I worked on my slow stitching. When I could take it out of the pan it looked like this.

It didn't rise up as nicely as my regular zucchini bread recipe, but it's very good. By the time we were ready for our afternoon cup of espresso, I was able to cut into it for the inside story.

There's a trick to keep blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the loaf. They're tossed in a little bit of flour before adding them to the mix. I did that here, but they still mostly sank to the bottom. I'd make this again, but I think I'll search for a different recipe. It's good, but the appearance is unimpressive.

There were just a few housekeeping chores to complete, but then I made my way into the sewing room.

I hope we're not going to be doing any more papurr-piecing.

She was disappointed when she learned we were. She snoopervised from the comfort of her kitty bed. She refuses to do any more papurr-piecing.

Even without her help, it was about half finished when my hour was up.

Moving on, it was time to make two more blocks for the Whimsical Garden quilt. These are the blocks I have for this quilt so far.

Last time I posted that picture, someone asked about the block borders. Yes, they are all configured a little differently. There are four fabrics in use, and so four different configurations. The pattern originally did them all scrappy with different reds and greens. I don't have enough pieces long enough to do each one from a different fabric, and so I decided to do mine by mixing up the configuration a little. There will be 20 blocks in the end, and so five of each configuration. I'll try to set them so that none of the same blocks are side by side. I don't actually know if its possible. Nevertheless, it will give the scrappy appearance I'm going for.

For yesterday's effort, I was making these two blocks. This is a picture from the pattern cover. Sorry for the graininess. It's a small bit of a larger photo.

You can see that the applique on the block to the right extends out to the block beside it.

And this pattern is just a bit of a pain because the applique templates are printed on both sides of the sheet, so I need to copy them onto a single sheet for tracing. Also, I have to reverse the applique, so I'm placing them face down on my lightbox. But that's not all. No, to make things even more painful, they are not on standard 8-1/2 x 11 sheets of paper. I have to copy them twice, and then piece them together...yet another form of paper-piecing.

This one was trickier. I think I copied about five sheets trying to get all the parts onto a single template.

And then I went to work. Block #13 was pretty easy.

Both blocks needed borders.

Block #14 has applique extending out past the borders, and so the borders needed to be added first. And you can see how the applique will extend out on the right side. I'll use a teflon pressing sheet to construct that flower, and then add it to the side when everything is finished.

When I had it that far, I decided to stop for the day.

Today I have a few more housekeeping chores to do before I can get back to my sewing. I'm hoping to finish off the Tiny House and then get the Whimsical Garden blocks to top-stitching stage. After that, there's no telling how long it will take to finish all the top-stitching. Block #14 is fairly detailed.

Before heading up to bed, I started some overnight oatmeal for this morning's breakfast. That's where I'm headed next. Have a good day, everybody!