A Perfect Day

Good morning, my friends. We couldn't have asked for a better day of weather for opening day of the Beaverton Farmers Market. The market opens at 10:00 a.m., and no sales can occur before the literal ringing of the opening bell. Erik and Mae were determined to get some oysters. Oysters will sell out within the first hour of opening the market, and so we were hanging out...hovering, you might say...first in line for some oysters. While we waited, a bald eagle flew overhead and landed in a nearby tree. I had only my phone with me for this shot. Sorry it isn't a better picture. 

It's great fun going to the market with Erik and Mae. They do most of their grocery shopping there, and they have the whole experience dialed-in. We get our breakfast while we're there. They bring metal forks and cloth napkins, and Erik squeezes fresh orange juice to drink. Yesterday's was a combination of oranges, including caracara and blood oranges, giving it that red tinge.

When breakfast is finished, we do our shopping. They got all kinds of stuff. I came home with a bunch of carrots and a delicata squash. The carrots were to roast as a side dish for last night's dinner. The delicata will be a good way to use up some leftover wild rice stuffing that's been hanging out in my freezer. The only other picture I took at the market was the label of this wine bottle from Catman Cellars. I don't know how the wine tastes, but I love the label.

Back at home, it was nearly lunch time. I was still full from breakfast, and so I spent some time on my slow-stitching. Day 3 of the Crabapple Hill Stitch-along was done in back stitch and seed stitch.

And then I finished up the first of two blocks for The Story of My Day quilt. It'll still need borders, but I'll stitch the second block, and do them both at once.

My routine was a little off, and so I sat around trying to figure out what to do next. I was dragging my feet about the quilt-along panel. It's a new technique for me, which makes it hard to do. A nap seemed like a better idea. When I woke up, I decided I was the boss of me for the day, and so I skipped the quilting and went straight to work in the sewing room. Smitty was my helper cat. He registered his disappurroval about skipping out on the quilting. The cat is a taskmaster.

Since I'd already decided I was the boss of me, I just ignored him and went to work making more rows for the flannel quilt. Truth be told, I really just want to work on this and finish it off. So I added the second row. The pattern is barely beginning to emerge. 

Turning it over...oh no. I intended for those blocks to be alternating, like a checkerboard. Oh no. And as I considered my options, I realized that fixing it would mean taking absolutely everything apart. It didn't take long for me to make a design decision. I guess this back is going to be vertically striped.

And so, I just continued on my way until I had four rows completed. I'll want nine rows to finish it off, and so I'm well on my way. It's getting easier to see the pattern now.

When I showed Mike the back, he said he liked it better this way. Having the colors lined up vertically makes it easier to tell which way is the long way when using it.

And that was the end of my day, except for making dinner. Leftovers. Yay! It was a good day.

So I might do some quilting today, but I really just want to work on the flannel quilt until it's finished. I might put quilting aside for a day or two until the flannel quilt is done. There's a lot going on during the month of February. We'll be leaving on our trip in a few weeks, and there is plenty to do before we go. I have a routine doctor's visit tomorrow, and then a haircut and color next week. Also, I'll want to get in one more pedicure before we go.

The prompt for the next art quilt for The Endeavourers was announced..."Harmony"...but I've already decided not to do this one. After around three or four years in the group, it'll be the first one I've missed. Also, two prompts for Project Quilting will be announced before the end of the month. I'll have to think seriously whether I want to do those. 

In other sewing, I would like to catch up on the quilting before we go. I'm not sure if I'll finish off the panel with binding, but I would like to get through all the videos and fill in the sections of the quilt that are left. I'm not taking my sewing machine on this trip, since it's mainly a sight-seeing trip. There won't be many sewing days available, and so it seems a waste of effort to pack everything up. Instead, I'll focus on slow-stitching, and I'll need to pull everything together for that.

For today, I might do some quilting...or maybe not. For sure, I'll continue on with the flannel quilt, and I'll continue on with the Crabapple Hill stitch-along. There's a treadmill session on my schedule and Sunday morning pancakes. I might even to some housework. Wouldn't that be something?

To my California friends, I'm worried about your weather. It's looking as if things could get hairy, so stay safe and dry, you folks to the south. When we leave on our trip, I want you all along with us, safe and sound. Okay, pancakes. Here I come.