Paper Trail

Good morning, my friends. We actually saw some blue sky yesterday afternoon. The rain let up late in the day, and we hoped we were through the worst of it. Then, I heard it raining last night. Still, I think we'll get some relief today, and the forecast is still looking good for our camping trip next week. Wouldn't that be something? As I mentioned to my friend Kate this morning, I don't think we've ever been to Cape Disappointment when it wasn't raining. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, okay? There's still plenty to do at home before we take off.

Our goal for yesterday was to make a run to the recycling depot to unload another five or six boxes of paper. I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I said that makes about 500 lbs. so far. I think we've finished with the worst of the recycling. The rest can just as easily be added to our curbside recycling bin. There's still going to be plenty for donation, however. Neither of us has even started on our closets. I was telling Mike yesterday that the last time I went through my closet, I spared a few things I liked and thought I'd wear again. Approximately ten years on, they're still hanging right in the same spot they were back then. I'm afraid I'll have to be more brutal this time around.

Before we did that, I spent some time on my slow stitching, finishing off the "Dessert for Me!" block.

Then I took just the first few stitches on the "Turn My Eyes Square" block. I was barely started on this, but then I did a little more later in the day.

I expect to finish this one before we leave for our camping trip, and so I traced out October's block for the Joyful Journey quilt. Between this piece and the quilt binding, I should have plenty of stitching to keep my hands occupied while we're gone. This is pretty hard to see, I know.

Here's the picture from the pattern cover. October's block is called "Harvest."

Later in the afternoon, I started in quilting the Heartland Barns quilt. I decided on this Coats & Clark "Star" variegated for the bobbin.

For the embroidered blocks only, I'm using this neutral King Tut thread.

These threads are gifts from my quilting fairy godmother, Ila. Thank you, Ila. Ila has been so generous with her threads that I never have to wonder if I have the color I need.

With dark thread in the bobbin and light thread on top, I spent some time getting the tension right.

Smitty was there to help me turn the tension knob. He would also like to share this tip with his feline friends in Blogland: Tension knobs are excellent for chin scratching. (In case you didn't know, kitties have very itchy chins.)

When I had the tension the best it could be, I went to work on the quilting, starting with the largest of the embroidered panels. I added some clouds in the sky and shingles on the roof and silo...

ruts in the road...

Siding on the barns...

Outlining of the barns...

And outlining the trunks and largest limbs on the trees.

For these embroidered panels, I didn't want to do anything too fancy because I didn't want to distract from the hand embroidery. It's always hard to decide how to quilt the embroidered blocks. Mainly, I want to add texture and functionality. Here are a couple of shots of the quilt back.

Smitty came back when I'd finished quilting the embroidered panels.

He was there to enforce my quilting time limit. 

Purrhaps you should stop now.

Fortunately, he allowed me just enough time to choose the thread I'll use on the rest of the quilt. This is another King Tut thread. I've used this color before.

It's a nice variegated dark brown. I have plenty to finish this quilt, but I'll probably buy some more of this for future use. I love the colors.

And then, I was purrmitted to stitch just a sampling of the design I'll use next. I'll probably use this leafy motif for many of the areas that still need quilting. It's a good border motif, but it also works as a filler.

And that was the end of my sewing day. I was trying a new recipe for dinner. This is Ginger Chicken with Sesame-Peanut Sauce. It was good and easy enough to do in the RV. The chicken is coated with a wet rub, and then left for at least an hour or up to 24 hours. Then it's roasted in a hot oven. The sauce needs no cooking. I mixed that up while I waited for the chicken, and I added some broccoli to the oven at the appropriate time. We used the peanut sauce on the broccoli too.

And I'll just say I'm partial to peanut sauces. This one was especially tasty. You can try clicking on the link I've given you for this recipe from the NYTimes, but you probably need a subscription to see it. As I've mentioned, it turns out you can enter your email to get limited access to a certain number of articles each month without actually having to subscribe. As always, if you want the recipe and you can't open the link, please feel free to email me, and I'll be happy to send it to you.

Okay, so what's going on today? Well, I'll continue with my slow-stitching and quilting. I'm also going to do some baking today. I'm gearing up to do some cooking ahead for our camping trip. Today I'll make some cranberry biscotti to take along. I'm also inclined to bake some cookies for two. I'll be making some foods for breakfast and dinner tomorrow. For these short trips, I like to have things prepared ahead, and then there isn't much cooking while we're relaxing at the campground. There's one housekeeping chore on the calendar for today, and there's still more purging to do. We're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on that, however. Getting rid of the mountains of paper feels like a big accomplishment. Also, we listed the now-empty 4-drawer file cabinet on Craig's List, and someone came to get it yesterday.

Breakfast is next, and then I'll get on with my day. It's going to be a busy day. What are you doing to keep busy today?