Michael and I were up early on Monday (11/4) courtesy of the clocks moving backwards, and had lots to do. Even though I had run a dishwasher load and done some clean-up after the baking extravaganza on Sunday, the kitchen was still a disaster, so that’s where I spent my time. Pete (neighbor 2 doors down) came down to pick up some cookies while we were working and Michael took care of the dog and the kitties and got ready for Mark, who arrived at 10 AM. There is some kind of tournament going on at the golf course here….so they both decided to meet and hit the driving range.
Once the kitchen was semi under control, I headed to my computer to get out a blog entry. While I was there, I spent about an hour looking for a new toffee cookie recipe….I really want to include one for my event next year….so I’m determined to press on, even though the one on Sunday was a disaster….not a total disaster as I thought they still tasted great, but they were about an eighth of an inch thick…meaning totally flat…and all stuck together as they had run into each other making a solid sheet of cookies! I hope all of you out there who think everything I do comes out perfectly are paying attention!
AND, I spent time researching a new cream cheese dough. The one that Iris and I tried to use for the rugelah was so ‘’fat’’ heavy (2 large packages of cream cheese and 2 sticks of butter) compared to the amount of flour it had, it was very difficult to roll out without totally sticking to my silpat. Finally I decided that I had spent enough time on the computer and got an ‘’old’’ QoV loaded up:
This is a quilt I started to quilt months ago…then ran into a thread break problem, and finally took it off of XENA and put it on the pool table as (at the time) I had 5 customer quilts waiting to be done.
I spent the rest of the afternoon ripping out the partial row that had been started on the QoV…wish me luck when I re-try to quilt it tomorrow!
I made 2 loaves of Artisan bread to go with our salads for dinner and we snuggled and watched TV in the evening.
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I was anxious to get up Tuesday morning (11/5) to face the QoV quilt. I pulled yards and yards and yards of thread off of the spool, then re-threaded my machine and kicked off the quilting. I took me about an hour to get it perfectly lined up with the previous stitching (it’s always a CR_P shoot to take a quilt off of the frame once you’ve already started to quilt it, but I had to do it once before, so at least I know what steps to go through), and at last it was ready. I got through 2 rows, with 3 more thread breaks:
before I shut down for dinner….I still have 5 more rows to go :~(.
And Leila has completed another 4 patch frenzy:
I think she was the one that originally introduced all of us to this pattern and we've made it in many, many variations since!
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I got up Wednesday morning (11/6) filled with dread….sad to realize just how many people in my country are filled with fear, hate and prejudice. Glad that I am a woman of a certain age, who no longer requires access to birth control. Sad that again, as a woman, my rights will probably be eroded further. Sad that the motto of Republicans/conservatives seems to be ‘’I’ve got mine (whether it be rights/opportunities/whatever)….screw the rest of you’’.
Michael and I will continue to live our values of helping those who have not had the opportunities we have had simply because we are white, welcoming those of other races and religions, and not being afraid of, or trying to stifle, the rights of people we do not know or do not understand. We survived the first presidency and the pandemic, I’m sure we’ll survive this one…but I’m not sure about the rest of the world.
As usual, my honey tried to cheer me up by making my breakfast:
I SKYPE’d with Janice Wednesday morning (11/6) before heading off to my massage, and then a bit of grocery shopping before heading home. I read a bit in the afternoon, then put together 2 casseroles (chicken pot pie and ham/cheese sliders) for our veteran’s day tomorrow. Michael and I had sausage soup and Artisan bread for dinner, then settled in the basement to watch TV and sew…as our TV upstairs decided to stop working :~(.
My honey started to layout some blocks that have been completed for awhile:
Now, when Mary Jo was here visiting awhile ago….she did a layout for me of large and small 4 patches. I absolutely LOVED what she did with them (I am so disappointed that I can’t find a picture of the quilt…oh well), and I thought that I might like to try it in a QoV pattern….so I started making 4 patches...and that's what Michael started laying out.
I ADORED the first part:
But when he tried to fill in with the smaller 4 patches…my brain exploded:
I absolutely hate it! Too much going on…I felt it was screaming at me (which is really saying something since I feel most of my quilts are more on the screaming side than the quiet side!)
Anyway, I didn’t understand why I loved Mary Jo’s, and hated this one….but when I thought about it….I had a better idea. The blocks that Mary Jo laid out were all done with ‘’quilter’s solids’’ while this one is not…and my background fabric on this one is not a ‘’solid’’ but has a LOT going on….so where do I go from here? Definitely some kind of border strip BETWEEN the large and smaller 4 patches? Maybe an embroidery in the middle….again to break things up? Maybe a whole different layout with other blocks inserted in with the 4 patches? Suggestions are welcome!
And 10 years ago...
Oh my gosh!!! Bonnie Hunter posted this and it is SO TRUE for me!!!
*** Today, I completed a chore I’ve been putting off for 6 months. It took 15 minutes. I will learn nothing from this. ***
Show me some screaming quilts!!!