Loony

Good morning, my friends. It's another gray day here at the Three Cats Ranch. We're expecting better weather tomorrow and Friday. It would be nice to have good weather on Friday. Matthew and I are planning a walk down by the Willamette River. If the weather is uncooperative, we have an alternative plan, but the walk would be nice. Fingers crossed.

It was a busy day yesterday. Honestly, I didn't think I could get it all done, but I did. There was laundry to do, treadmills to walk, housekeeping to do, bread to bake, and the list goes on. Regardless, I always make time for my morning slow-stitching. Yesterday, I finished off the ninth block for the Snowmen & Reindeer project. (I might have said it was the tenth block in yesterday's post. Actually, it was page 10 of the pattern.)

These are the nine blocks I have for this quilt so far.

When I was finally able to make my way to the sewing room, I found my helper cat waiting. When he heard I was going to make a bird, he was all about it.

I like purrds!

The background was ready to go. And after all that discussion of this "Return of the Swallows" block...

I realized I'd turned it 90° from how it's pictured in the book. Doh!

Oh well. I'm not changing it. There's a similar error in at least one other block for this quilt. Don't tell anyone, okay?

So, I was ready to start tracing and fusing the applique. Smitty held the template sheet steady for me.

The first one was the water. Probably, I should have chosen a lighter color here, but I liked this fabric for the water.

Looking at the placement diagram, I realized the loon was a bit complicated placement-wise. There were a lot of small and overlapping pieces. I decided to use a teflon pressing sheet to build the applique, and then fuse it to the background.

So, I started with the second part of the water, and then created the loon and her loonlets.

We didn't actually see any loons in Alaska, but we did see one as we drove through Canada. It's not a great picture. I was standing far away and zoomed in to capture it.

Okay, and when I had the loon and the loonlets created, I moved them to the water...

And then I could move the whole thing to the block background.

All that was left then was to add the rocks and grass, and the applique was finished. This took the whole of my sewing day.

I'm not sure if there will be time for sewing today. If there is, I'll get started on the top-stitching for these two blocks. I don't expect to finish them today, but maybe by tomorrow.

For dinner last night, I tried another new recipe. This is Spicy Peanut Noodles with Shrimp and Snow Peas. You'll need a subscription to America's Test Kitchens to open that link. If you can't open it, and you really want the recipe, please don't hesitate to email me, and I'll be happy to send it to you. I made the recipe mostly as written, except that I made just half. I needed 8 oz. of shrimp, but I could only find a 12 oz. bag. I used all of it. Also, the recipe suggests spaghetti for the noodles. I had some udon noodles, and so I used those. It was very tasty. We liked it. For sure, I'll be making it again.

So, it's a physical therapy day. (Boo! Hiss!)  Actually, my therapist seems like a very nice man. He's a Nigerian man with a pleasant accent. I'd really just rather stay home and sew. And with that on the agenda, I'm making our dinner of Cottage Pies this morning. I'll just need to put them in the oven when I get home, and that will make an easy dinner after PT. Whenever I make mashed potatoes, I always make extra so that I can make Cottage Pies from them. It's one of Mike's favorite meals. I like it because there are leftovers for another night, or I can freeze them for future RV travel.

Also, I have a trip to a fabric store planned for today. Happily, my PT is just down the street from one of my favorite quilt shops, and so it'll ease the sting of the forced PT appointment. (Please be sure to note how down-trodden I am from all this PT business. Honestly, I'm surprised I can stay upright under the weight of so much oppression.) I'll be looking for a backing for the Land & Sea quilt.

This particular quilt shop, Boersma's, has a great collection of sale fabrics in their basement, and I always look there for anything else I might like. So, it's a busy day, but the quilt shop will make it all worthwhile.

Before I do any of that, though, I'll get started on October's block for A Year in the Garden.

Okay, then. Off I go. Time's a wastin'. Have a good day, Everybody. Be sure and bow your heads during the 3:00 p.m. hour. (That's Pacific Daylight Time.) That's when I'll be at the chamber of horrors. I'll need your positive vibes.