Smokey morning

Canadian wildfire smoke has been heading our way again with warnings about air quality.  Yesterday was lovely, though, so I managed to get out and deadhead the daisies and do a little weeding.  Today I'll stay in and sew after a trip to the pharmacy.  I'm well into a new book by Kate Morton - Homecoming - which I'm enjoying, so I know I'll sit down and read for a while, too.   A perfect Sunday!

I had a birthday a few days ago, and want to share the range of cards I received.  

Aren't people sweet?   I'll put them away soon, but it's fun to look at them all lined up on the mantle.  My cousin sent me a card a few weeks ahead, but all the rest arrived around the actual day, last Thursday.  It's nice that people still send cards through the mail.  

All things blueberry

With Heritage Days in the books, I can get back to life as usual.  Grocery shopping, accumulated laundry, and a little housework are done, and I've made quite a pile of Double Date blocks.  I'm on the home stretch with about 12 left to make.   I think I've made 73 so far - a painstaking job!  I should be able to start cutting the triangles for the on-point setting by the middle of next week.  Laying the whole quilt out in the basement should be a challenge.

Our local quilt shop offers us a percentage of half our age around our birthdays, so Tuesday I spent some time picking out neutrals (blacks, beiges, and whites) for backgrounds as well as some prints and nearly solids (yellow, red, teal) to use in the coming year.  It was quite a haul, but I forgot to get any green for the final border and binding of Double Date.  Guess I'll try to piece it with leftovers if I can.  

I'm anxious to finish putting it all together so I can work on another UFO, definitely not paper pieced.  I have never worked so exclusively on a quilt before, but with Pat in the guest room (maybe for a couple more months), this is what I've been doing.  Lots of other quilters work on just one quilt at a time, but this is a first for me. 

Paul has picked quite a few blueberries. One night we had blueberry pancakes for dinner - yummy!   I froze several bags, gave one more bag to a neighbor, and have another to give away. I've had blueberries on my cereal and plan to make another blueberry buckle today.   My blueberry cookbook is getting a workout.  My friend Cindy sent me this sweet little plant for my birthday (last Friday) - I set it in the kitchen window to add a little cheer to doing the dishes.