Cutting Table Cleared

Before clearing the cutting table

Goal number four on my July list was to clear and organize the closet and the cutting table. I cleared the cutting table earlier in the month. 

Clearing this area took me a long time. I did it in baby steps. I would take a section of the table, sort and clear it. I didn't do it every day but most days I did give myself an "assignment!"

After clearing the cutting table

As the end of the month approached, I still had a long way to go. I considered that I wasn't going to meet my goal. Friday, Gertie whispered in my ear that I should "get on with it!" I took her advice. (Gertie is my inner squirrel. I have had many conversations with her this month; but, I will save that information for another post!)

One block laid out

I spent time sorting the bins and putting items away. I realized how super great I am about getting out supplies and planning projects. I realized I'm less than stellar about returning the supplies to their proper place and in actually completing the project. I will work on improving my clean up and finishing skills in the future.

My cutting table is useable again. Currently, I'm enjoying the view! I'm thinking I'll cut out swimsuits for the Oregon granddaughters. It's been almost five years since I did any cutting on that space. I used it as a staging area for projects. When I didn't finish a project or hit a snag, I'd just move on to the next project.

Where the cutting table was concerned, piled higher and deeper was how I rolled. Cleaning up, I put the projects that I had abandoned into a tub.  I will get to finishing these projects at some point. There were no projects that I was ready to remove from the studio. I still have too much on the table; but, it is a start!

Block parts kitted and ready to sew
as leaders and enders

To reward myself, I played a little with scraps. I decided to actually start the Bonnie Hunter leader and ender this year. Triple Treat is what she named the 2022 leader/ender. This one uses lots of 1 1/2 squares and 2 1/2 inch segments. I have an abundance of both!

Block piece laid out for one block

When my grand daughter K was over to make progress on her quilt top earlier in the month, she sewed quite a few four patches. She had so much fun putting fabric together and stitching four patches when she ended a seam when piecing rows together on her top! Sometimes, she sewed a four patch together because she wanted to see what it would look like. I decided that before there were a hundred plus four patches, I'd kit what was sewn to make blocks.

It will be a quick block to stitch. I'm using 2 1/2 inch strips that have been hanging out in my "precut" section for a long time. Sylvia at Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework is a master at using her scraps. Please check out the link to see what she and others are doing with their scraps!

Because it is the last day of the month, I wanted to provide a status report on my one monthly goal which was to attach all the July blocks to the body of the top. This meant that I had to finish attaching the June blocks. The June blocks are attached. Today, I'll attach the July 30th block. Tomorrow, I'll attach the July 31st block. I hadn't considered that I need to wait until the end of the day before reviewing the temperatures to be sure that I'm accurate. The important part of the process is that I'm on schedule. I now have connected the April, May, June and July blocks.

Woven with Love--

Pieced back

Our Thread Tales book club read "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer. The author wrote the book as a series of letters of how the islanders coped with the lack of supplies and German occupation on the island of Guernsey during World War II. They wrote to Julia who was a journalist/writer.

Quilting pattern

I would classify the book as historical fiction. What struck me was how the group banded together and ended up ensuring that a child, Kit, would always have "family" and love even though she didn't have her biological mother. Her mother was sent away from the community for being Polish. Later the reader learns that this mother died in a concentration camp.

Label

There were a lot of characters in the book and their stories were woven together. The characters looked after one another. They found ways to share what they had.

About this time, I watched a segment of Fons and Porter Love Of Quilting that the pair demoted a basketweave pattern. I thought that the pattern was perfect for a project. Piecing with partial seams is how I stitched the pattern.

One of the ladies in my water aerobics class decided she wasn't going to make any more quilts and she gifted me a book and a few of her scraps. I used her scraps to stitch
some of the bars on quilt top. I also pulled some scraps that had been hanging about my studio for some time! 

Finished front

I also used scraps to piece the back. For the quilting, I used my dishes to trace circles on the top. In the photo, I centered a cup, a saucer and a luncheon plate in one area. I quilted with a variegated polyester Superior Thread. Unfortunately, Superior Threads no longer produces this thread.

There wasn't enough of the emerald green fabric for the binding so, I made a two color binding. On the front the binding is green. One the back, the binding is the Kaffe purple fabric that is the outer border on the front.

I had planned to give the quilt to an expectant friend; but, she ended up having a boy. I felt that this quilt was more suited for a girl so I make a different quilt for my friend.

I finished the project in October of 2010. 

For Love---

Close up of the inner section of the back

 Our book club read "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern.  At the time, I had finished participating in a free-motion quilting challenge that Darlene did in 2012 on her SewCalGal blog. She now blogs at 

Creative Latitude; but is currently taking a break. 

I hope she and her inner squirrel, Sally, are well. I miss them! In 2013, Darlene hosted another free motion quilting challenge and Pasty Thompson provided a tutorial about how to quilt borders.  

Close up of the inner section of the front

This piece is inspired by Pasty's tutorial. It is about 18 inches square. The fabric came from my "chunk" scraps. I needed to add a bit to have enough "rounds" for my plan. 

Close up of the outer border of the back

"The Night Circus" story follows the consequences of a wager to the death between two magicians about which is the better. . .new magic or old magic. 

The two "pawns"are  the daughter of one magician and an orphaned boy of the other magician. Wouldn't you know it, the two fall in love and then learn of the duel. Is there a way out of the challenge or is one of the characters destined to lose and die? 

I was inspired by all the color that was in the book and surprised about where it wasn't. For example, the colors of the circus were black and white. There was one character that was always clothed in gray.

I remember that the colors, when introduced, represented an emotion. At the end of the book, there is a huge bonfire and all the colors are represented. While I wasn't able to recreate the bonfire graphic I saw in my head, I was able to use thread and filler designs to represent the colors. I don't remember what each color represented now. When I was quilting this project, I selected the thread colors based on the colors the author wrote in the text.

Close up of outer border of the front

What I found interesting was that although I used the same thread top and bottom of the project, it looks totally different! Sometimes the thread blended and sometimes it popped against the background.  

I used Floriani metallic thread in at least three areas, red bananas, green leaves and blue swirls.

To mark my stitching areas, I stitched lines in yellow thread. For those red hearts, I did complete a continuous free motion design. I was mindful to stitch as close to the yellow line as possible when I traveled so it appears that I did a lot of starting and stopping when you look at the back; but, I really didn't! When you view the same area from the front, the yellow line disappears!

View of finished back

I was surprised to see how iridescent blue that purple thread looked on the back. On the front it looked purple!

It was challenging to create the same size shape each time. It was challenging to figure out what to do for the corner. Sometimes, I chalked lines to give me points to stay within which helped me with the keeping the size of the motifs relatively equal.

I named the piece: For Love. I finished it in
2013. Because I used scraps to complete this project, I'm linking to Cynthia at Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework.

Finished front

Ottolenghi During the Queen's Jubilee

Meze boxes

This year marked 70 years that Queen Elizabeth has been the British monarch. The first weekend in June there were parties, parades, events and activities scheduled throughout the UK. Businesses got in on the event too. 

The business offer that interested me and my daughter was the Ottolenghi Meze food box in honor of the Jubilee. We had been making "Otto" recipes for the previous two months. We thought it would be fun to experience an "Otto" food box. We decided that we could prepare and eat it on the day of the Jubilee. She ordered it.

View of the contents

We were impressed with the packaging. Each box contained containers that were numbered. The numbers corresponded to the foldout brochure of how to assemble the ingredients. The brochure was so detailed! The photos were terrific. Yes, our dishes looked like the dishes in the brochure!

Adding the finishing touches

It was fun to follow the photos and "create" an "Otto" meal. The information said the ingredients served two; but, it easily could have served four. There were three of us and we had leftovers!

We did make a batch of hummus and a chocolate dessert because we thought we might be short on food. Later, we said to ourselves. . "What were we thinking???"

Baked rhubarb

My daughter's friend, Fritha, is a chocolate lover so it was the perfect time to try the Mint and Pistachio Fridge Cake dessert from the SIMPLE cookbook. She and my daughter prepared it while I distracted the granddaughter. Fritha also took the lead with directing the assembling of the various dishes. Plating the items went quickly. She was a great project manager!

The food was delicious. It was so much fun to share the experience with Fritha and my daughter. What a way to mark the Queen's Jubilee! I'll definitely remember where I was and what I was doing when the celebration was happening!

The menu in the Meze box was: Mixed Shawarma (lamb and mushroom), flatbreads, sumac yogurt; Beetroot, goat's cheese, hazelnuts; roasted carrots, harissa, pomegranate; Gem lettuce, Burnt aubergine, Smacked cucumber, chili shatta; Tamarind and tomato braised chickpeas; Baked rhubarb, Sweet labneh, pistachios.

Mint and pistachio fridge cake

Every dish was good. Every dish was artfully finished and beautiful to view. We had made the smacked cucumber salad and ours was equally as good as the one that we prepared from the box. We felt the same way about the sweet labneh. Later we made a dish that incorporated sumac yogurt and decided our was as good as what we ate on Jubilee Day!

I liked the braised chickpea dish and will look for that recipe! I also liked that it was a "tuck in" sort of meal. Take a bite of this, take a bite of that and visit!

While we ate, we watched the air show. The aircraft flew near my daughter's flat and a few minutes later we could see the same aircraft on the television flying a pattern around Buckingham palace. We watched the Queen wave to the huge crowd as we listened to the telecast personnel describe all that was going on. We enjoyed our celebration. I will always remember the Queen's 70th Jubilee!

Posting about this Ottolenghi experience was goal number six on my July list. Stay tuned, there will be a future post about other "Otto" dishes!

Aerial formation--70

The food

Ready to 'tuck in'

Catching Up With The Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Kitted fabric for blocks

Being away for three months meant that I had a lot of  catching up to do. Note: I still have a lot of catching up to do; but I'm making progress! Near the top of my list was to piece the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) blocks for April (pink), May (sage and forest green), June (blue) and July (purple.)

Before I left, I cut all the background pieces. I wonder clipped the amount needed for one block together. Once home and over several afternoons, I sorted my scraps and cut all the colored fabrics. 

April and May blocks

This was a challenging exercise because while I have lots of scraps, I often don't have the amount that I think that I need in the color that Angela at So Scrappy picks each month. For the blocks that I chose to make for the RSC this year, it is better that my fabrics read tonal. Unfortunately, sometimes I "get" to use a print or a lighter/darker value of the monthly fabric to have enough fabric to stitch a block.

June and July blocks

The good news is that I am reducing the number of 2 1/2 inch and 1 1/2 inch strips that were in my "precuts." My precuts are the leftovers from previous projects that I've cut into useable squares and strips. I've also reduced the number of chunks/small pieces that I have stored in another set of drawers. The RSC and Cynthia at Quilting Is Better Than Housework has helped me finally feel better at stretching the available fabrics to fit that color. Thank you Angela and Cynthia!

Months April through July

I didn't have many pink, sage and forest green scraps. I had to be a little creative; but, I believe I was successful! I am determined to use what I have on hand for this project so that I pare down my stash. I'm also determined to not harm any yardage to piece this project. 

The prompt for the pink was to think baby pink. I had a couple tiny bits of my interpretation of baby pink. I used up many of the pink 2 1/2 inch strips that I had on hand. Again, I was impressed with the overall look of the block when I was finished. Had I a little more fabric, I might have tried to change the location of some of the fabrics. As it was, the length of the strip determined the fabric placement!

I had one strip of sage green fabric. I had a tiny amount of fabric that was close to forest green. I used what I had which meant that I filled in with my olive scraps. I like how the light fabrics in the large circle almost look three dimensional.  I like the effect the stripe fabric had in the block. 

The braid before the hair cut

While I have a lot of blue scraps, I was surprised how little bright blue fabrics I had! I decided that scrappy blue with bright blue accents worked fine. I also have a lot of purple scraps. . .there is red purple and blue purple. I went with the blue purple. Of course, I had the same issue. . .almost enough; but, not quite! Actually, I think the print provides a bit of interest to the block.

Seeing four months of blocks together was a "wow" moment. Currently, I don't have a setting plan for these blocks. Gertie, my inner squirrel, has been playing with them so I'm sure she and I will put our heads together once it is time to set the blocks into a top. It feels great to be caught up. This was goal number six on my July list. I'm linking to Angela at So Scrappy because these are RSC blocks. 

The style after

These blocks take up most of my design wall space. It is so amazing at how terrific these scrap blocks truly are! I appreciate the inspiration that Cynthia at at Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework provides. Please click the link and enjoy all the other scrappy projects that people are doing.

Catching up was goal number eight on my third quarter list. It was goal number six on my July list.

In other news, I cut my hair. My previous haircut was in December 2019. Before COVID, at least annually, I'd get a hair cut. Two and a half years is a long time to go between haircuts. My hair grew to below my waist. For a time I braided it; but, mostly, I pulled it into a pony tail. Combing it after a shower took some time!

Side and back view

Before my hairdresser cut about eighteen inches of length from my hair, she tried out a braid. Sometimes she is asked to updo long hair. She likes to keep her skills sharp. She said she saw a picture of a braid she wanted to try if I didn't mind. Of course, I didn't mind! It was a cool looking braid.

I left the hank of hair at the hairdresser's. She said she would check to see if an organization in Oregon that makes hair loss systems for kids with hair loss issues at no charge was accepting donations. I've since learned they are not. So likely my hair dresser tossed that hunk of hair. 

Side note: My hairdresser said that she stopped sending hair to Locks of Love because they charge for their wigs. 

I like the new haircut. I don't miss all that hair! I doubt that I'll grow my hair that length again. In fact, I'll likely get a couple haircuts a year. I like this style because it is close to wash and wear!

Closet Organizing--

Overview of the studio 

Cleaning my studio has been on my list for years. I've slowly accumulated "stuff" from free table forays, from family and friends gifting me treasurers, from internet buys and from quilt shop runs. Instead of actually doing more than clearing a surface here and there, I would tell myself I could do it later. Gertie, my inner squirrel, was all for later because that meant she had more opportunities to entice me with a fun project or two, or three!

Left side of the studio--before

Each day I was in London, I would tell myself. Cleaning the studio had to move from clearing a couple surfaces to actually making the space a space instead of a dump site. I wrote a timeline--the month of July. 

Putting my plan into print, helps me make  progress toward my goal. "Clean studio" had been on my list for years; but, I added "start with the closet." Being specific about the goal helped too. 

I could feel my resolve weakening about beginning this project, so I shared my plan with my daughter. She said that it was time to clean it. I was grateful that she didn't say it was way past time to clean it either! 

Floor view right side of studio---before

A few days later, I shared my plan with my  husband. He was glad I was finally going to start on the "accumulation." Telling someone about my plan makes accomplishing it feel more achievable. I also have someone to support me when I'm stuck.

Originally, I planned to remove almost everything from the room and start over. I thought I could sort, destash and reorganize in about a month. Gertie, my inner squirrel, shook her head and told me I had way underestimated the scope of the project. My start day arrived. I took the before pictures.  

The closet---before

My husband helped clear the tubs and supplies from the closet to a couple staging areas. It is good to have a space to work from. The contents filled the guest bed and half of our room. Seeing the mass of supplies took me aback. No, I didn't use the Marie Kondo method of asking if the piece brought me joy. Instead, I had three piles: keep, maybe and rehome.

Staging area

 

I started on the fabric tubs that I had stored in the closet. I had four tubs of wool/wool blend fabrics and corduroy. I now have one tub. My not keep and maybe pile was on my bed when my two Oregon grand daughters came for a visit. 

Immediately, they wanted to know if they could have "fabric." I said yes, I gave them each an empty tub and said that they could take turns choosing. I also told them that I would be happy to help them sew the fabric when they were ready. 

After clearing the tubs with the wool fabrics, I was stuck
with what to tackle next.  I thought about my friend Marla who is an amazing organizer. Her tip was to put like things together so that was what I did. I had felt scraps, laces and trims in another room. Now my pile was getting bigger instead of smaller. I managed to downsize some of those. I even have space to add more to the tub because there are trims in parts of the studio I have yet to organize. 

Right side of closet--after

It has taken me two weeks to mostly sort and organize that small closet space. I figure it will take me not a month but more like three months to get the space back in sewing shape. Life like work happened so I have days where not much is accomplished. I started to berate myself for not getting more done. 

Left side of closet--after

Then I told myself, "baby steps are better than no steps. Keep going. Keep progressing. You will get there. At some point, you'll reveal the next steps and the process will take on some momentum." I also realized that I need to spend some time at my machine as organizing days after day has gotten old really fast! 

My goal this month was to clean and organize the closet
and cutting table in my studio. The reality is that this process will take much more time and effort than I had envisioned. I can see that I'll be working on the destash several times as I'm able to let more "go." 

Jean jacket back

If fabrics and notions weren't so expensive, I would destash more now. Gosh, writing that sentence is like hearing my grandmother's words from long ago! She was always repurposing and saving bits because there was some "use" left in it!

If I feel like I can use the item, I kept it. Six dollar a yard fabric is a bargain compared to the 13 to 16 dollar a yard quilting fabrics available now. I plan to continue to heavily shop my stash and to supplement projects with quilt store runs when needed.

Jean jacket front

It is great to have the batting together. I have a section of rolled batting on the right side of the closet and packaged batting on the left side. I know as I quilt, I will be using the packaged batting. More space to store a couple other fabric tubs will become available fairly soon! There are two sewing machines in the closet too. 

I marked one of the boxes "inspiration projects" so that Gertie has a place to play first. She loves this box and enjoys taking it down from the shelf. She says that she feels more valued.

I'm happy with my progress. I doubt, however, that I will manage to clear the cutting table this month. I'm currently working on the area in front of the closet. I've taken to heart the baby steps part of the plan. I set aside a pile to "deal with" each day. When I've sorted that pile or when I've had enough, I reward myself with some stitching. I end the day with a pat on the back for making PROGRESS!

Rain jacket

One of the items that came from the closet went to Miss K. She spied the jean jacket that I had embellished with lace and trim for her mama. Her mama found the jacket not to be her "style" when she was about thirteen so she never wore it. It is nice that 27 years later it has found a new home. Miss K has lots of room to grow in this jacket.

Of course, I can't send a jacket for one granddaughter and not the other so I took a rain jacket I had made for the same daughter out of the closet. My daughter wore this jacket a lot. In fact, she can still wear it; but, she was delighted to gift it to her daughter, Miss J. Miss J has some growing to do to fill out the sleeves; but, I don't doubt that will happen!

Now. . .what to do with that spoon collection that contains a good number of well tarnished silver teaspoons. . . have any of you suggestions?

Quilting with two Granddaughters

Swim suit fabric choice

Miss K and Miss J came over for a sleepover last week. We had originally planned to take a field trip to longarm Miss J's quilt; but, my friend is no longer renting her longarm machine for that purpose. Since we had planned the sleepover, we decided to do a little drawing and sewing instead.

Miss J and I talked about options for her quilt. She can quilt it on my domestic machine. We talked about pin basting; but, that will have to wait until I get the ditch quilting finished on my Lone Star quilt because I've used all the basting pins! While she was disappointed about the field trip, she was open to giving the quilting a try on my machine.

Rebecca from Rebecca Grace Quilting suggested that she do some free motion (FM) quilting. She can give free motion quilting a whirl. At eight years old, however, her attention span and fine motor skills don't always sync. Then again, she might like FM quilting. Rebecca is correct when she says kids don't know that FM quilting is a challenge so they don't hunch their shoulders or hold their breath. 

Sewing a row together

What we did do was pick fabric for a swim suit. A swim suit was what Miss J wanted to make next. She chose a pattern. I measured her so we will know the correct size of pattern to draft. She has grown since we had a measuring session! Miss K also chose a fabric for a swim suit and a pattern. I'll draw the patterns onto a tracing fabric. The next time we are together, we will do some sewing! 

It will be interesting to see if the girls can stretch the elastic, keep the edges of the fabric even and sew at the same time. It may be easier for me to make the suits; but, we will see!

Miss K worked on her string quilt. She has sewn half of the rows together. She finds it challenging to keep the edges of the two fabrics when she sews long seams together. Pinning closer helps; but, it isn't the fix all. Does anyone have tips on how to make sewing long seams easier for her?

Miss K  and half of her quilt top

She told me that she wanted a rainbow fabric for the back of her project. Let's see what she finds in the stash that makes her think of a rainbow! She was excited to have "half a quilt." I told her that she could make two quilts; but, she plans to stay with making one large quilt.

The tags on the blocks are numbers so that she knows which block is stitched next in the pattern. She also has a color photo of the blocks in the order she picked as a reference. 

I've put the blocks together incorrectly. So before she sews, she checks my work. . .often, I get to re-pin because I get the blocks turned around! She thinks it is funny that I would make that sort of mistake.

I started making these blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge last year. She saw them and asked if she could sew them. After she sewed a couple months worth of blocks, she asked if she could make a quilt out of the blocks. I was and still am tickled pink she took on this project!

We had a good day. We played a few games and we drew some mini pictures together. Spending time together was extra special. I hope we can schedule another overnight experience next month. Spending time together quilting was goal number five on my July list.

Since the string quilt is scraps, I'm linking to Cynthia and Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework.

Second Quarter Recap and Third Quarter Goals

Cross Stitch #1

My Second Quarter goals were:

✔1. Make progress on the book club quilt for this quarter. I have an idea and am taking supplies with me on my trip. -- I finished it.

✔2. Make progress on the Temperature quilt for 2022. -- I have and continue to list this project as a quarter and monthly goal. It is a project that I touch almost every day! 

3. Work on three small cross stitch projects. --I worked on two projects. The cross stitch is complete. I need to fully finish the projects.

✔4. Use Wednesdays to document the Thread Tales Quilts that I haven't written a post. --I've written more than a dozen posts about this topic and all but one were written on Wednesday. I've a few finished project yet to document.

✔5. Document the Saturday workshops that I've taken this year.-- I've written posts about the workshops that I was able to participate in. There are a couple more that I need to start the technique or the project as I was only able to listen

Cross Stitch #2

to the presentation because I was in London and away from my studio!

My Third Quarter goals are:

1. Clean and organize my studio. I thought that I could do this in a month. I rather doubt that I can do it in a quarter; but, I plan to make a little progress each week.

2. Keep up with the blocks in the Temperature quilt for 2022. It takes me about two hours to put one block into the top. I have four rows to add to the top. I didn't add those rows as I started because I thought it would be easier to add two rows each month once I got to July than it would be to add one block at a time. I have learned it is easier to add more block at a time. This will be my TV project.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge kits

3. Finish the 2022 Bonnie Hunter Mystery--I'm down to the binding, sleeve and label. This is one that I want to give to a four time bronze star Vietnam Veteran. I would like to give it as a Quilt of Valor. I need to reach out to the contact near me and learn what the steps are to complete this task.

4. Begin quilting the Lone Star quilt. It is ready to be quilted. I need to get started on it! Perhaps, this will be my August monthly goal---to ditch quilt it.

5. Help my granddaughter finish her project. I learned earlier this week that the gal where I was longarming, is no longer renting her machine. Perhaps, using the walking foot on my domestic machine will work out for her. She is eight and it will be important that she make progress quickly.

6. Help my eight year old granddaughter make a swimsuit, Perhaps, her sister will want one too.

7. Fully finish the cross stitch projects I began in London. One will be a Christmas ornament and the other. . .was destined to be a refrigerator ornament. .  .maybe it will and maybe it will become something else.

8. Catch up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I enjoy looking through my scraps and coming up with the blocks. Some months, I "get" to stretch myself because I have little in that color way! Yesterday, I finished  cutting the colored pieces for the months that I'm behind. Before I left on my trip, I cut all the backgrounds. Now, I have "kits" to sew one of these days!

June Recap and July Goals

Stitching rows together

My goals for June were:

✔1. Continue piecing blocks for the 2022 Temperature quilt. This month, I'll begin adding a previous rows to the pieced strip. Also this month, I will use all of the purple background fabric I had on hand.

✔2. Write three or four more posts that feature book club quilts from the past. The books will likely be:
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd; Jump Off Creek by Molly Glass; Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

✔3. Continue work on my book club quilt for the June reveal. This was my one monthly goal. I finished the project!

✔4. Write a post about a virtual Saturday Workshop that I took earlier this year.

⃠5. Work on a cross stitch project.--Update: Looked at the project. Took it out of the bag, put it back in the bag!

Celebrating the Queen's Jubilee

⃠6. Write a post about additional Ottolenghi recipes that we've made.--Update: Wrote too many posts about my book club project. Will work in an Ottolenghi post next month.

I arrived home from my three month visit with my daughter and her daughter. Being able to spend so much time with my newest granddaughter was extra special. The day after I returned, I helped people earn their CPR certifications. I had the weekend off and then I did it again the following four days. I helped 44 people earn 62 certifications. At ten days, I'm still working through the jet lag. Perhaps, my body got use to my 7am shift with the granddaughter!

What a change in three months

Returning home was bittersweet. I missed my husband and our dog. It was hard leaving that little bundle of joy and my daughter.  I'm glad I went. I loved having lots of time with my daughter. London is a wonderful city. Yes, I did get to visit a few places.

I would go again, although my work mates have said not for three months again any time soon! They along with my husband said that I was missed in many ways and many times. I don't think of myself as "important" but, hearing how much I was missed sure tugged at my heart. Our dog, has made sure to make eye contact and to lay her head on my knee!

Books I read last month were:

Print: 

Dear Miss Kopp and Miss Kopp Investigates both by Amy Stewart. These were six and seven in the series which I've been reading since our book club read the first one (Girl Waits with Gun) about five years ago! Stewart has written one book each year since 2015 based on newspaper accounts of an actual woman and her "sisters. 4/5

Audio:

Organize this closet

Lion in the Library by Elizabeth Peters. This was number four in a series which is a light read. 3.5/5; The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles 4/5 and "The Personal Librarian" by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray 4.5/5.

My goals for July are:

1. Continue piecing blocks for the 2022 Temperature quilt. My order of the purple background fabric arrived on the day that I returned. I've just a couple of purple points to add to my June blocks so in that respect, I'm not far behind. I've learned last month that it isn't that hard to attach a block to the piece. My One Monthly goal is to attach all the blocks for July. This means I need to finish attaching June. I've about half of the month attached. I'm linking to Patty and Elm Street Quilts.  Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal July Link-up

2. Write two more posts that feature book club quilts from the past. The books will likely be: The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows and The Midnight Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I'm close to documenting all the finished past book club quilts. My next step will be to begin finishing the book club quilts that I started but have let languish for one

Quilt a day with the Oregon granddaughters

reason or another!

3. Write a post about the Ottolenghi we ate while we celebrated with the Queen during her Jubilee.  I ran out of weeks to post about this topic last month! 

Possible scraps for the RSC blocks

4. Clean and organize the studio closet. Clear the cutting table in my studio. Originally, I planned to remove almost everything from my sewing space and start over. I thought a month would be enough time.

Last weekend, I removed the contents of the closet. Working though the contents, I realized the process will take much more time and effort than I had envisioned. I can see that doing this process several times as I'm able to let more "go." 

5. Spend a day quilting with the granddaughters that live near me. It would be great to have the youngest get her quilt quilted and the oldest to make progress on her scrap blocks.

6. Begin catching up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks as I haven't stitched the blocks for April, May and June! This morning, I pulled a few scraps of green, pink, purple and blue. I looked longingly at my machine. 

I'm linking to Cynthia at Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework. Cynthia has been making Positively blocks. It's a sew along that had I been in town, I would have joined. Preeti, the sew along leader, sent me a personal note that I was welcome to join any time. . . so you can too!

This month, it would be great to quilt a project on the longarm, make progress quilting one on my domestic machine and finish a project or two as well. Time will tell if Gertie, my inner squirrel, will be content with working through my list. She has seen so many fun projects in the closet. I'm happy to report she has only been whispering in my ear about one project in particular. . . .time will tell what happens next!