Distracted by food

I have read quite a few blogs and talked to a few people about not getting a lot done over the last few weeks.  The election and its aftermath seem to have taken the wind out of some people's sails, including my own.  One blogger said she was "driven to distraction."  I haven't been reading or sewing as much as I normally do.   When I do sit down and read, however, I am really enjoying Louise Penny's latest, The Gray Wolf.

Although I haven't been quilting as much as usual, I am about halfway around the wide last border of the Dresdent quilt.  It's pretty easy quilting - straight lines down the pieced and plain sections as in piano keys.  It's a fairly big quilt (72" x 72") for using a walking foot, but it's happening.  If I knuckle down I can have the quilting done in another week... but will I?  There's no deadline, really, but I would like to make a few drawstring bags for gifts I should be mailing soon.  Yesterday I wrapped all the presents I'm sending to my sister in the Netherlands, and I hope to get that package out this week.  Last year's package arrived way past Christmas, so I want to get it in the mail sooner.

I also want to start on a Sasquatch quilt for Chris.  I have the Elizabeth Hartman pattern, Legendary, which I plan to modify quite a bit and add a border made with a panel of mythical creatures.  I think it will be fun and fairly quick to do.  If I don't get it quilted by Christmas, I will simply wrap the top up and promise to get it finished by his birthday in January.

Mostly, I've been cooking soup and working with sourdough starter.  I bought the little container of starter at King Arthur Baking a few weeks ago and fed it religiously for a week.  I hate having the "discard" so have been searching for recipes to use that and also have been reading up on various ways to maintain the starter without so much discard.  I have a loaf in the freezer and plan to make another later today using the "no waste" method.   This light rye bread was really good.

Last Friday I spent much of the day cooking a huge kabocha  squash Chris brought from work.   It tastes great but has a very tough skin, so I cooked it in the crockpot for 5 hours.  Then I peeled it, removed the seeds, cut it into smaller pieces, continued on the stove before mashing it.  I have another one in the garage that I'll deal with eventually (before it freezes).

 Chris arrived yesterday with a frozen whole chicken, so I got a loaf of bread out to give him.  The chicken is now defrosting in the refrigerator because there's no more room in the freezer.  I'll cook it Wednesday (if it's defrosted by then) and we'll probably eat it for the rest of the week.

Stick Season

Here in Vermont, we call the time between fall foliage and snow Stick Season, and there's even a popular song by Noah Kahan.   Some oak leaves still cling to their branches, but that's about it.  I don't mind it when it's not snowing.  When the sun shines, the birch and beech trees shine.  Of course, some days are gray and windy, but those are the times I stay inside and quilt.  Or read.  Right now, Louise Penny's latest book is really holding my attention.

Quilting the Dresden quilt is coming along slowly.  I need to make some progress on it this week because next week my brother Rob and his wife Linda are coming for a few days.  My quilting room is also the guest room.  I'm hoping to get rid of more of Sylvia's mother's fabric from the totes stacked up in the dining room.  I put as much as I could in bags and will take them to guild for the free table.  I took three bags to the ReStore yesterday and was surprised at how willing they were to take them.

Saturday's state quilt guild meeting went really well.  We had nearly double our usual attendance which was a shock, with 28 guests who may return in May and join.   People really seemed to enjoy the demos, including Tess' Temperature Quilts one (her example at left). Show and tell was fun, too, and there was a special category this time for Christmas and winter holiday-related items.  Soni does a great job organizing this, and people love gettng fat quarters as prizes! 

Making progress, albeit slowly

 Quilting the floral Dresden plate quilt is coming along nicely so far.  Yesterday, I ran parallel lines around the center plate, and today I'll work on the half plates.  Sorry the quilting isn't visible in this photo.  

After taking the class on walking foot quilting with Beth Ann Williams, I feel a whole lot more confident and comfortable with what I'm doing.  I ran out of basting pins mid-way through on Sunday, but managed to buy up all the rest that Joann Fabrics had.  Where do the pins go?  I should have gotten some more flower-headed pins while I was at it, too, since my supply is dwindling.  

Anyway, as I work my way out from the center, the quilting should get easier.  I will continue going diagonally down the center of each piece of the plates and echoing the center half circles today.  I'll switch to black thread on top for the half circles.  Echo quilting those butterflies will be my next challenge.  Once I move on to the succeeding rounds, quilting should be easier.

Definitely November

Yesterday was as gloomy as a November day can get - chilly, too.  Robin, Marie and I headed to tiny West Topsham, VT, to play Quilt Bingo at Mary's house.  She is closing her online shop and wanted to get rid of all of the fabric she didn't want to keep for her own projects.  I'm curious to know where she keeps her longarm (if she still owns one) as her house didn't seem that big.  

At any rate, the attic where we played was quite cold, and after two hours, we were glad to go home, heavily laden with fabric and other goodies.  I bought a good part of a bolt which will make a couple of backs for $12, and Mary gave everyone three matching yards plus some more in winnings.  I wish I could say I didn't plan to buy any more fabric, but that's impossible!

Here's part of four tubs of fabric a friend from my genealogy group gave me last Sunday.  She has been cleaning her mother's house because her mother now lives in a nursing home.  At one time, the lady made lots of doll and other clothes, so quite a bit of the fabric in these tubs is unusable to me.  

I will take a little at a time to various quilt meetings this winter, and also to the ReStore.  There are silky and large pieces of lacey fabric as well as knits and corduroys.  If I sewed clothes, I would definitely be happier.  The tubs take up a lot of room in our dining room, but I'll chip away at them.  The fourth tub is in the garage because it's even bigger than these.

Sitting next to the tubs are some of the things I'll be taking to the state quilt guild meeting this coming Saturday.  There are two coffee makers and part of a coffee pot for a silent auction, as well as supplies and a quilt rack.   I will put some of the tub fabric into tote bags for giveaway also.  I doubt if I'll take anything for show and tell - all this stuff is enough.

Earlier this week, Paul and I went downtown to visit Marsha at her antique shop's new location.  From there we bought Paul some new boots and then looked at a new monument at Hope Cemetery.  At first, we thought it was a mausoleum, but there is no way that we could find to open it for more bodies.  

It's quite cute, as you can see from this photo of Paul on the porch.  The clapboards and windows are on all four sides.  But there are no birth/death dates of any of the family members.  Future generations will not be happy with that omission.

As you can see, it was a lovely day that day, but it seems that as soon as November came, so did the clouds.  I started quilting a bed-sized scrappy quilt on Friday, and it's just the right activity for these gloomy days.