Monday, August 20, 2012

Produce

My health continues to improve. I had a doctor visit this past week and the doctor was pleased with my improvement and said I don't have to come back to see her unless things start backsliding. That is great news! I am feeling better and managed to work every day last week. My office was recarpeted during the week so it made things interesting but I got everything done I needed to do. 

This past weekend was the Bluegrass Festival and my quilt was auctioned off for $250. The person who bought it would have gone higher but no one was bidding against her! That is my only sewing news for this past week but I have been getting some garden harvesting done.

One evening during the week I picked blueberries and got them in the freezer for the 'long, hard winter'. I also picked enough green beans for a couple of meals. I kept an eye on the pumpkins, squash, zucchini and cucumbers. At this point we have just 3 pumpkins which means I might only have one I have to deal with after giving one to each of the grandkids. There are acorn squash coming on and I really hope they mature because last year they were so delish! I have two zucchini plants but unlike most people, I am not getting too many, thank goodness. I had hoped for more cucumbers though. Finally managed to get enough to make one half gallon of dill pickles this weekend.

Niece Katie came over on Friday and on Saturday we picked blackberries and beans. Seventeen pounds of green beans and that was after the neighbor picked quite a few the night before! Yesterday, we froze 10 packages of beans and canned 7 quarts of dilly beans. We have to wait 2 weeks to see how those beans turn out. Unfortunately there will be more beans in a few days so I am torn as to whether I should use the same recipe for more or should I try another. Luckily I have a few days to make that decision. 

Well, another week is starting and they are saying the weather should be cooler this week so I might actually get more done around the house!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Wanna Join?

About 3 1/2 years ago, my daughter and I started the Quilt Block Exchange Flickr group. Instead of swapping mini quilts or doll quilts we wanted a group to swap quilt blocks. Things went along great for a while and then interest dwindled so we haven't been exchanging for quite some time. Several new and old members of the group have shown interest again so if enough people sign up we will be swapping again in September. 

Are you interested in being a part of this exchange? The guidelines are simple:

1. Sign up indicating the size, color, type of block you would want to receive.
2. At the beginning of the month I will post a list of participants and their desires and let everyone know who they should make blocks for. Usually the most you will need to make are 3-4 blocks.
3. Each participant is responsible for getting the address of those they are making blocks for and for providing their own address to those making blocks for them. This is usually done via Flickrmail. 
4. By the end of the month, you should have your blocks finished and in the mail and then you just wait and see what arrives in your mail box. 

The nice thing about this exchange is that you are only committing to one month at a time and can sit out for a month or two if your life is too hectic, etc.

So if this sounds like fun to you, head on over and sign-up for September!


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Minor Setback

My recovery had been moving along quite nicely and I was feeling great! Then on Tuesday morning, after a not so great night's sleep, I woke feeling rather crummy. I tried going into work but only lasted 2 hours. I came home and went to bed. After a few hours of napping I didn't feel any better so I called the doctor's office and got scheduled for an appointment first thing in the morning. That appointment was followed by a CT Scan which showed fluid built up in my abdomen so now I am on some serious antibiotics and we will see what happens. I am feeling better so that is a good thing but now everyone is telling me to rest! Do you know how boring that is?

I have spent a little time sewing but not much. I did manage to get three bindings finished before it got just too hot and got the blocks done for a baby quilt. Here is one possible layout.


I need to send the pictures of layout options for the baby quilt to the person who ordered it so I know how to put them together. Today the quilt for the Margarita Party will be delivered and I just need a hanging sleeve on the one for the Bluegrass Festival and that can be delivered also. 

Did you notice that the baby quilt is made from the leftover HSTs from the Margarita Party quilt?

Today I hope to finish the last binding and maybe get that hanging sleeve done while I watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I do need to find something else to do work on or I am going to go stir crazy!