Another sale!

This is the year of mail order, I guess, and I've been doing quite a bit of it myself.  My etsy shop has been busier than ever, too.  This summer I sold a blue and gray Civil War sampler quilt that had been on there for several years, and before Thanksgiving my Ohio Star sampler sold.  

The buyer of the Ohio Star quilt wondered if she could return it if it didn't fit her bed.   I labored over a response, hoping to sound encouraging and not negative.  I have been worrying ever since I mailed it, but so far, it has not returned to me.  I especially love the scrappy green border on that quilt which includes blocks from a swap in my local guild.    

Earlier this week, I received an inquiry about my Modern Ohio Star challenge wall hanging.  The person wanted to know if  I could make one just like it, only "a little" bigger.  It is 21" x 26", and she wanted it to be 36" x 48", not even the same proportion.  The inquiry caused another diplomatic dilemma for me as I absolutely had to decline.  I used "Quilters Linen" for the navy blue and know that my local shop no longer has any because I liked it so much that I tried to get more for another quilt.   

Luckily, someone else likes it just the size it is, and I mailed it to someone in Colorado a couple of days later.   I hope it arrives there before Christmas.  Everything seems to be taking longer to mail these days.  I really liked this little quilt which was a guild challenge to "modernize" a traditional block.  The back has one large, strippy Ohio Star, making it reversible.  It's so gratifying when something sells!

December "Sisters" block

This is the last month for the "Sisters" block of the month quilt along, created by Aby Dolinger.  I've enjoyed making the blocks out of mostly blue scraps.  Each month, there have been instructions for two similar blocks, one 12" and the other 6".   I have some nice cream fabric for spacers, borders, binding, and any sashing I might want to add.   The finished size will be about 71" x 78".  I may quilt it in sections.

At the beginning of each year, I say I'm not going to do any more blocks of the month.  Then as the year goes on, I miss having one to work on.  We'll see how the year goes.   I am organizing the guild block of the month so try to work ahead on instructions every month.  I will still be doing the Rainbow Scrap Challenge each month, and I have been making nine patch blocks out of scrappy 2.5" squares to use, somehow.  I also have  few other half-finished projects in boxes waiting for attention, as well as some knitting to work on this winter.

Today is Friday, so another clue for Bonnie Hunter's Grassy Creek Mystery was posted.  I got right to work, cutting and then sewing a few of the segments.  I like this week's results because I'm working with one of my favorite color combinations - kelly green and soft pink.  She confirmed today that we won't be using any more gold.  I had substituted purple for that color because gold is not a favorite and I don't have much of it.  This is a help since I've been working on log cabining my "Anything Goes" swap blocks in purple and don't want to run out.  Ha!  As if!

Favorite books, 2020 edition

I usually read about a book a week, sometimes more.  This year, I read quite a few less, probably due to the distractions of the pandemic and the fatigue induced by the insane person in the White House.  Good Reads tells me I read 41 so far, and I have several going right now that I may or may not finish by the end of the year.  Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:

 - The Life We Bury - Allen Eskens (thanks, Karen, for the recommendation)

 - Winter Garden - Kristin Hannah

 - Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel (my favorite this year; I'll be looking for more by this author)

 - Everyone Brave Is Forgiven - Chris Cleaves

 - The Way Life Should Be - Christina Baker Kline (great recipes)

 - Troubled Blood - Robert Galbraith (#5 in series)

 - Ice Blue - Emma Jameson (and three others in the series)

 - The Mountains Wild - Sarah Stewart Taylor (so glad to read a new book by this author)

 - Alone in the Wild - Kelley Armstrong (#5 in series)

 - Westering Women - Sandra Dallas

I see that several of these books were pretty long (Galbraith's book was nearly 1,000 pages!) which also accounts for my not reading as much this year.  I spent more time knitting while watching TV and quilting - it was a productive year at home.   

Curiously, I have been remiss in keeping my handwritten diary of books read this year.  I have five of these going back 15 or so years when I first started keeping track.  It all started at a family gathering when someone who had had a little too much to drink said, snidely,  "So you're a librarian.  How many books do you read in a year?" "52" was my off-the-top-of-my-head response which was met with a respectful raising of the eyebrows.   My diaries prove me correct and also help me remember what I read.  Guess I should go update it today!

Making progress on many fronts

All of our Christmas packages have been mailed, the library staff's gifts have been delivered, and get-out-the-vote postcards to Georgia have been written and are ready to mail.  Now I can start doing a little more holiday prep, including wrapping the gifts for local friends, Paul, and Chris and decorating a little bit.  I did hang the old patchwork wreath on the door.  It looks awfully tatty close up but fine from the street!   I like to Christmas-ize a little at a time to stretch the season out.

Yesterday evening, I posted the guild's block of the month November lottery winner and December block.  We're making snowball blocks in blues this time.  These 6" blocks are pretty easy and one person has already informed me that she's made one.  I made three in this size for my Dear Jen quilt (a Jen Kingwell sampler I plan to start in the new year).

I also sewed four 3" snowballs together for the optional 6" block for the guild lottery,  People in the guild seem to enjoy the lottery aspect of this block of the month, with 15 or so mailing their blocks to the winner each month.   This has been a fun project for me during this more isolated time, too.

This week's Bonnie Hunter mystery clue is also done after a weekend of steady sewing.  I, of course, printed the clue out in black and white to save colored printer ink and, as a result, misread the clue and used the wrong color.   Because I didn't like Bonnie's green-orange-red-gold scheme, I chose green-medium blue-purple-pink.  I should have made my half-square triangles out of pinks, but they are purple so I will shuffle what I had planned.  I always figure I can dig deeper into my stash to finish the clues if I need to anyway.  And I can make a quick run to the quilt shop as a last resort.

My sewing room has been a busy place for me over the last few days because I also made some Christmas Cobblestone blocks for a swap with an online group.  I'll be sending two blocks to each of nine people in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and England soon.  On tap for today:  starting on Christmas cards, taking some stuff to the Salvation Army, vacuuming, and a little more knitting on a shawl which has grown off of two needles and onto circular ones.  Hope it's not as gloomy as the last few days have been.  I'd love to squeeze in a few walks, too.  Have a great day!

Thanksgiving

 Good morning!  Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving.   We had a quiet day with a nice meal, some TV (a bit of the Macy's parade and the National Dog Show), and one walk around the neighborhood.  Today I hope we'll get out for our usual three turns around the neighborhood because I feel the need to walk off a little of what we ate.  I got out a favorite table runner yesterday, made of fragments from a Civil War "layer cake."

My Pilgrim candles remind me of the candles my Dad used to buy me when I was small.  I don't plan to burn them because I remember being so upset at losing their heads way back then!  I'll carefully put them back in the box for next year.  Today I hope to meet up with Samantha to exchange some leftover turkey for a big squash, one of three in the garage.  Maybe I'll work on one of them this weekend.  Today I'll be using leftover squash and mashed potatoes to make a lighter soup for dinner with some cornbread.  

The apple kuchen I made using Burton's recipe turned out really good and not too heavy.  I sent Chris home with some, and we still have plenty for a few more meals.  It would be really good with a dollop of ice cream but plain was good, too.  I love anything with almond flavoring.

I just printed out the first clue of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, so that's what I'll be dipping into today.  Should be fun!

Easy dinner and great bread

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!  I hope your holiday is a fun one,  how ever you celebrate.  We'll be here with the three of us as was the case last year.  The guys are still waxing poetic about the filet mignon I made then, but we're having ham this time.  I couldn't find a turkey breast, and the turkeys were way too big.  Luckily, Samantha is bringing us some leftovers from the big turkey she got.  In the past, we had T'giving dinner with her and Vicki, when she actually cooked the turkey at her house and brought it here.  What a great friend!  She's even willing to take one of the three gigantic squashes Chris gave me.

In preparation for tomorrow's blow out, this week's dinners have been very easy and low cal.   Some have been vegetarian, and here's one that I really like - Greek nachos for two:

Dressing:  mix 1/3 c. hummus with 2 T. olive oil, 1 T. lemon juice, and a 1/8 t. pepper (the New York Times recipe said this served six, but they must have been small eaters).

Put a layer of pita chips (my new favorite) on two dinner plates.  Top each with chopped Romaine lettuce, chopped vegetables (cucumber, tomatoes, green peppers, whatever appeals), sliced olives, and finish with crumbled feta cheese.

Drizzle hummus dressing over all, and enjoy.  Perhaps offer more chips and hummus on the side.

Right now, I'm making 100% whole wheat bread using a recipe from King Arthur Flour in my bread machine.  I have tried a lot of recipes before recently finding one that really works.  It includes flax seed and a good amount of maple syrup; it rises well, is soft, and makes great toast and sandwiches.  I use the dough setting on the machine, which lets me take it out, shape and rise it again, and then bake it in the oven.   It may seem odd to do it that way, but the machine does a thorough job of heavy kneading for my older hands and allows the first rise to be in a warmer spot than my cool kitchen offers.

Later today, I'll make some winter squash for tomorrow, but mostly I'll be sewing today - perfect!

Heading to California!

 

I woke up early this morning, which seems to be my pattern lately, to find that another quilt had sold on my etsy shop.  What a great surprise!  I love this cheerful, fresh-looking quilt with blocks from a swap and a border adapted from a pattern by Deb Tucker.  The grass green fabric makes it especially bright.

I took this picture by hanging the quilt over the railing of my neighbor's deck.  She went to Florida from October to April, so on good days, I would use that spot to take pictures of quilts that are too big for Paul to hold up by himself.  That neighbor passed away last year and new people have moved in, but they won't mind if I use their deck now and then.   In fact, Dave will probably help Paul hold it up if I ask.  During this COVID crisis, we have become closer as we check in most days in our driveways or the backyard.

Paul and I went to the post office to mail the first of our holiday packages - four to the Netherlands and one to Wisconsin - yesterday.  I wasn't planning on going there again today, but guess I will now.  It is fun and gratifying to have something sell, but also a little bittersweet to see one of my projects leave the safety of my home.