Sewturday

Good morning, my friends. It's rain, rain, rain at our place. We're supposed to get some clearing on Tuesday, but the rain will be back by Wednesday. Honestly, I'm glad we're getting plenty of rain. Since we'll be gone during some of the warmest weather of our summer season, drought conditions would be undesirable. We'll be setting up automatic sprinklers, but it's still nice to know the rest of the landscape will be well-watered. Our weather has been of the everything-in-a-day variety lately. It snowed for a good part of the day yesterday. At 37°F, however, it didn't stick.

So I made good on my threat to bake a pie for Pi Day yesterday. Mike requested a Dutch Apple Pie. Each time I bake a pie for Pi Day, I try making a pi symbol out of the dough scraps. This might be my best one yet.

If it isn't obvious, this is a pie for two. It's super simple. To make a pie for two requires a 6-inch pie plate. I use Pillsbury pie crusts for this and fill it with a pint of homemade apple pie filling. The apples are from Erik's and Mae's apple tree. A can of store-bought works too. Then the topping is made from 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup quick-cooking oats, and 1/4 cup melted butter. Just mix it up and generously sprinkle it over the top. The pi symbol is optional. And I love these little pies. They can bake in my toaster oven, 350°F for 35 minutes, and you're done.

Until you eat it, of course. We had ours last night with some vanilla ice cream.

We were slow getting off the couch yesterday morning. I still managed a walk on the treadmill, but that meant we didn't get home from our grocery shopping until well after lunch time. When I made my way into the sewing room, my goal was to make three more pieced blocks for the Girls' Getaway quilt. I decided to start with the easy one.

Et voila! It probably took longer to choose the fabrics than it did to sew it together.

Next...two of these blocks called "Rosebud." It looked a little complicated. I've never made this block before.

So, I picked through my scraps a little more before starting. I'm making both blocks from the same fabrics. They start with 16 half square triangles. Those were trimmed to two inches.

Then, I was to sew them into strips. For this, I used my Omnigrid cutting/ironing board combo to lay them out for sewing.

My sewing machine is situated in a sort of nook. Mike built those shelving and drawer units for me when I returned to sewing back in 2004. I like my sewing area, but there isn't a lot of room on the right side of the machine. If I pull out the top drawer, I can give myself a little extra room using this Omnigrid mat. Also, it makes it easier to move those pieces from work table to machine. 

When I had them sewn together, I trimmed off that little corner. The woman who taught my community college quilting class called those "bunny ears," and I do too.

And then I laid those out for the next step.

But I'd plum run out of time by then. Dinner (and pie) were waiting. I covered my pieces with rulers to protect them from prying paws, and turned out the light.

So that's where I'll start today.

This being Sewturday, it's going to be an NBS day. I kind of like this new Sewturday routine I've started. In retirement, every day is the same, and so there are no designated days off. By claiming Sewturday as my one day off during the week, meaning no housework and no workouts, then no matter how busy the week is, I can look forward to a day of sewing. If I play my cards right, there are leftovers for dinner, and so there's no cooking either. I'm thinking I'll write to President Musk and ask him to designate this as an official federal holiday. What are the chances? (Sorry. Actually, not sorry. It's a form of mini rebellion to get in a little dig each day.)

From here, I'll eat a little breakfast and then sit for my slow-stitching. Mike is in pig heaven downstairs because Formula One is back. From there...sewing, sewing, and more sewing. I'll finish off the two Girls' Getaway blocks, and then I'll make two more blocks for the Shop Hop 4.0 quilt. These are the blocks I have so far.

These are the two I'll make next.

I'm nearly out of fabrics for these blocks. That trip to Alaska can't come soon enough.

Okay...so I'm off. Have a good Saturday and enjoy your weekend. Feel free to join me for Sewturday sewing if you like.