Baby Girl Quilt

Baby Girl Quilt

I finished my latest sewing project!  A quilt for my daughter's goddaughter.  I had hoped to finish it in time for her baptism, but, I couldn't.  Instead, I finished it in time for her 1st birthday, which isn't until the end of the month.  

It's just a very simple 5-inch squares pattern, with fabric I had in the stash.  Leftovers, actually, from another quilt I had made several years ago, for my friend's 1st granddaughter.  Cotton/cotton blend on the top and cotton flannel for the backing.  

The top is machine pieced, but, I hand sewed the binding and hand quilted a single line of quilting all around.  Then, I hand embroidered X's, with a small stitch through the middle of the X to deter little fingers and toes getting caught in the stitches, at the corners where the squares met:

X's in the Corners

The X's are to hold the three layers of the quilt together.  I usually tie my quilts, but, I thought the embroidered X's would be better, in this case.

I had some help with the quilt, as usual, of course:

Quality Control Officer Cat Testing for Comfort

The quilt has been Dancer approved!  (Fortunately, the little girl's household includes two cats, so, a stray cat hair or two on the quilt wouldn't matter, too much, although I am going to wash it before I gift it).

This is the thread I used to sew the line of hand quilting:

Quilting Thread

I have almost come to the end of the spool of thread!  I don't remember how long I've had this spool of thread, but, the fact that the spool is wood and the price on the label on the other side should be an indication:

35 Cents!

It's vintage thread!  LOL.

I am considering this as a frugal gift since I didn't have to buy anything specifically for this quilt.

I just need to wash and dry the quilt and then, it will be wrapped up ready to be gifted. 

I am grateful for:

- My fabric stash
- Being able to sew
- My sewing machine
- Thread from the stash
- Dancer's help with projects!

My next sewing project will be another quilt for the baby's older sister who will celebrate her 3rd birthday in July.  I have fabric in the stash for that, too, but, might have to cut a larger quilt batting to size, which is fine, too.  

The Weekend and Beyond

 

Lamb
Crocheted by Daughter

On Saturday, my daughter finished crocheting and assembling an amigurumi lamb for her friend's younger daughter and then, she crocheted a small teddy bear for the older daughter, so she wouldn't feel left out:

Teddy Bear

And made a card:

Card
(top cropped to hide name)

While she was busy, I did some sewing.  I had hoped to finish my sewing project on Saturday, but, I couldn't.  I really should have started on it, earlier, but, I was busy working on another sewing project which also took longer than I had thought:

New Sari Blouse

When I wore my sari to my late friend A's daughter's graduation, last month, I realized that, since I had lost some weight, the old sari blouse was too big!  I managed to temporarily fix it with safety pins, but, it was very obvious to me that I needed a new sari blouse.  So, I used some of the purple fabric I had recently purchased during the store closing sale and sewed myself a new sari blouse.  It involved a bit of trial and error as I needed to draft a new pattern and I couldn't get my dart points to meet, and I struggled with the sleeves, pinning them inside out and back to front, etc.  I am happy with the end result (even if the dart points are still uneven), but, it took longer than I had thought, which meant I didn't have enough time to work on the other project.  So, rather than rush and make mistakes, I decided to finish it later to be given as a birthday gift, later this month.

In addition to sewing, I did two loads of laundry, cleaned the bathtub, made fried rice for brunch, put back a couple of items in the living room (a table lamp as the room has no ceiling lights or wall lights, and a resin statue of a Bodhisattva that my sister had gifted to me many years ago), made a smoked sausage stir fry for dinner, made another "lazy" peach cobbler for dessert, called Aunt C and friend R to check on them, and ran the dishwasher.  And watched the TV coverage of the protests against ICE raids as they developed in downtown Los Angeles.  

On Saturday, I was grateful for:

- Time spent working on craft projects 
- Working appliances
- Electricity to run the appliances
- Phone calls with family and friends
- Fresh peaches

Saturday's joyful activity was sewing and spending time with my daughter.

Church Interior

On Sunday, we were up early to go to my daughter's friend's baby's baptism.  My daughter and the baby's mother have been friends since high school and my daughter was one of the bridesmaids at her friend's wedding.  Her friend had asked my daughter to be her younger daughter's godmother and my daughter felt very honored by the request.  We had been asked to be at the church by 9:15 a.m. and we got there well before 9:00 a.m. and I sat at the back of the church and listened to the choir rehearse while we waited. 

The baby wore a white dress that my daughter had crocheted for her for the occasion and the service and baptism went well.  The baby looked surprised when the water was poured over her head, but, she didn't cry.  We were invited to lunch at a restaurant, afterwards, but, we declined and came home.

I made us scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for brunch.  Daughter took a nap, afterwards, while I read a few blogs and then, started cooking some of the things I wanted to send back with daughter (beef curry, pepper steak with beef and bell peppers; mixed vegetable stir fry) and watched the news.  For dinner, daughter had leftover sausage stir fry and rice; I had a sandwich with some of the beef I cooked.

On Sunday, I was grateful for:

- Being invited to attend the baby's baptism
- Some social activity
- A safe ride to the church and back
- Another opportunity to wear a sari (with a well-fitting blouse, this time)
- Spending time with my daughter

Sunday's joyful activity was attending the baby's baptism.

On Monday, daughter worked from home.  While she was busy, working, I did a little more cooking.  I made a mallung (cooked shredded greens) with the parsley I had bought, finely shredding the leaves and sauteing the shredded leaves with onions, grated coconut, green chilies, minced garlic, salt, and lemon juice.  Then, I made dhal with red lentils.  I froze most of it for my daughter to take back with her.  We had some of it for a late lunch, with freshly cooked rice and fresh peaches for dessert.

In the evening, after daughter finished work, I dropped her off at the airport.  On the way home, I put gas to the car.  I put just over 10 gallons and it came to $45.22.  After I came home, I did a load of laundry, ran a cleaning cycle on the washing machine, took the trash cans to the curb for pick up on Tuesday morning, and spoke with neighbor E, thanking him again for helping with the living room painting.  I also watered the indoor plants and cooked myself a bacon cheeseburger with sweet potato fries for dinner.  

Daughter reached her apartment safely and we chatted a little bit.  She will go into the office on Tuesday and maybe go to the grocery store afterwards to pick up some half and half for her coffee and a couple of other items.  

On Monday, I was grateful for:

- Daughter had a safe flight and ride back to her apartment
- I was able to send some cooked food and fresh peaches back with her
- A safe drive to the airport and back
- Gas for the car

- Fresh peaches

Monday's joyful activity was cooking food for daughter to take back with her.

Tuesday's To Do List:

- Bring in the emptied trash cans

- Pick up medication refill from the pharmacy
- Go to the bank

- Do another load of laundry, including my bed sheets

- Remake my bed

- Put away laundry

- Water the garden

- Look up driving directions to the specialist's appointment on Wednesday

- Pay bills/paperwork & filing

How was your weekend?  Did you have a good day on Monday?  What are your plans for Tuesday?

More Grocery Shopping on Friday

 

Daylilies

Another of the daylily bulbs that M gave me is flowering.  I love the double colored blooms.

On Friday, I slept in, since I didn't have to wake up early.  In the afternoon, I went to the Armenian grocery store and did a little more grocery shopping, buying some beef shoulder steaks @ $5.49/lb. (I bought just over 2 lbs.), fruits and vegetables, bread rolls, and two cans of coconut water to share with my daughter.  I spent a total of $30.22.  Added to the $45.64 I already spent on Wednesday, that brings my June grocery spending to $75.86.

Grocery Receipt

Some of what I bought will be cooked and sent up with my daughter when she goes back on Monday.  She is scheduled to have a medical procedure done after she goes back and she asked me to prepare a few meals for her so she doesn't need to cook until she has had time to recover.  

I opened a can of corned beef and sauteed the contents with sliced onions, diced tomato, chili powder, and lemon juice, etc.  We used that as a sandwich filling for the bread rolls I bought for both our brunch and our dinner.

M was here in the evening to tend to the garden.  He brought me a new yellow chrysanthemum plant as a thank you gift for some jars of jam I had given him, earlier.  

Later, I did some sewing while daughter did some crocheting. 

On Friday, I was grateful for:

- Being able to sleep in!
- Being able to find some good prices on groceries at the ethnic grocery store
- A safe drive to the store and back
- M's help with the garden
- Fresh peaches

Friday's joyful activity was spending some time sewing and working on crafts projects with my daughter.

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for the weekend? 

Daylilies and Scaredy Cat Flowers

Playing with Fabric

 

New Fabric Haul

I've been playing with fabric, quite a bit, recently.  I started out with just randomly piecing together some of the scrap pieces of fabric; it was a calming, almost meditative, relaxing activity for me.  I'd trim the resulting pieces into squares or rectangles of no particular size with the idea that I might eventually incorporate them into a quilt top.  

Then, on Saturday afternoon, daughter and I decided to go to Joann's, the fabric/crafts store that is closing down, to see if there were any bargains to be found.  Daughter wanted some beads at 30% off.  I wanted to see if they had any sewing thread (only some specialized machine embroidery thread were available), packaged elastic (the shelves were bare), and fabric, even though I had bought a stash of fabric in December!

I usually stock up on fabric when it goes on sale for 50% off or more, especially when this store used to have their after Thanksgiving/after Christmas clearance sales.  But, now, even with the store closing, most of the fabric were only 20% off.  Which wasn't a big savings, in my opinion, and probably why they had so much fabric left on the shelves in the store.  I stood in front of the holiday fabric shelves, filled with bolts of St. Patrick's Day/Easter/spring themed fabric, Halloween/fall themed fabric, and Christmas/winter themed fabric, as well as patriotic design fabric and checked the prices.  But, the original prices were mostly $9.99 and up and the 20% off discount didn't bring the prices down enough for me to want to purchase them.

Instead, I headed over to their low priced fabric section, where the "project cotton" fabric was originally priced at $2.00 per yard (which is the fabric I stocked up on in December).  They didn't have as big a selection of that fabric, and some of them were the same as what I had bought in December, but, they, too, were 20% off and I decided to get more of that fabric for future projects.

The picture above shows what I bought.  I already had some of the apple print fabric, the solid green fabric, and the pale pink with stars fabric, but, I bought more of them for $1.60/yd.  I bought 2 yards each of the red striped, apple print, green, and orange fabric and 3 yards of the pink.  Most of the fabric on the bolts were pre-cut pieces of fabric (I suppose pieces that were returned by previous customers for whatever reason?)  I had a very nice store clerk assisting me, though.  Sometimes, the precut piece was just over 2 yards, and rather than cutting off the excess, he just gave me the whole piece and charged me only for the 2 yards.

I did want 10 yards of the purple fabric (my favorite color and good for quilt backings, borders, sashing, etc.)  However, that entire bolt seemed to be made up of 2-3 yard pieces.  I think the biggest piece was a little under 4 yards.  I was fine with getting 10 yards of pieces at that price (I could always sew the pieces together if needed).  The sales assistant measured out 10 yards of the purple altogether, but, because it was in pieces, he gave me a further discount and charged me for only 5 yards!  As a result, I paid a total of $25.60 for a little over 21 yards of fabric.  Now, that's a good way to build up my fabric stash, I think.  I was very happy with my fabric purchase.

Speaking of my fabric stash, I had a piece of fabric (bought from this same store, but, several years ago) in the stash.  I remember shopping for it because I went with my daughter and she selected several pieces of fabric with cherry blossom designs because she loves cherry blossoms.  

Close Up of the Fabric Design

This Sunday, I sat down at the sewing machine and stitched up a gathered skirt for my daughter with this piece of fabric:

A New Skirt for Daughter

It's a very simple gathered skirt with an elastic waist band.  But, daughter is very happy with her new skirt with the cherry blossom print.  And I am happy that a piece of fabric I had in my stash was used up.  

I am grateful for:

- Finding fabric on sale
- A really nice sales assistant who gave me additional discounts on the sale fabric!
- More fabric for my stash
- Being able to sew a skirt for my daughter with fabric I already had in my stash
- Daughter being so happy to have a new skirt sewn by me.

Playing with fabric is one of my favorite joyful activities.

I do admit to wandering around the yarn section, too, but, nothing was reduced to a price that I thought was a good deal, so I didn't buy any yarn.  

Have you been to Joann's since they announced their store closings?  Did you find good bargains?  Do you have a fabric stash?  Do you think I went a bit overboard with my adding to my stash?  

Winds and Fires

We've had gale force winds, some gusting up to 89 mph according to the news and they have fanned at least three brush fires which have spread quite rapidly.  My house has been rattling since morning and I've been casting an anxious eye on the eucalyptus tree and the roof panels of the back porch/patio area.  They have been flapping quite a bit, but, so far, the bags of mulch are keeping them in place.

I spent a good part of the afternoon trying to sew on some tape to tie the Christmas cushion covers my mother had sewed as she didn't fix any fasteners to them and I've been hand sewing them closed, every year. I cut out the ties with some fabric I had and folded and ironed them, but, sewing the ties proved to be an exercise in frustration as the things got caught in the machine feeder dogs and going inside!  I had to take the metal plate off several times to cut out the strips of fabric and eventually, I gave it up and sewed on some ribbon "ties", instead.  The ribbon will be silkier and I'll have to tie double knots to keep them from becoming lose, but, it took a lot less time to sew them.

Afterwards, I packed away all the fabric Christmas decorations - the cushion covers, the table cover and placemats, the stockings, etc., in the suitcase that I store in my closet.

I brought in the bin for the tree decorations, but, I haven't undecorated the tree, yet.

I can the dishwasher in the evening and darned the heel of one of my wool knitted socks.

The lights flickered on and off all day due to the winds, but, we didn't lose power.

Aunt C called to check on me and I called friend R to check on her and texted another friend who lives near one of the fires, but, not in the evacuation zone.

Daughter had the last piece of sauteed chicken and vegetables for a late lunch and a cup of noodles for dinner.  I had pancakes with sausages and cranberry sauce for both lunch and dinner.  There are leftover sausages for a snack tomorrow.

Today, I am grateful for:

- The winds haven't caused much damage to the house and garden (some planters have been knocked over)
- Family and friends
- The neighbor who brought my trash cans in from the curb and left them on the side of my driveway
- Electricity staying on
- Working appliances

Today's joyful activity was sewing the ties to the cushions covers.  It was something I had been meaning to do for years!

Wednesday's To Do List:

- Tend to the garden with M
- Start undecorating the tree
- Catch up on the tasks I didn't get to

How was your Tuesday?  What are your plans for Wednesday?

Yes, I Did It Again!

Fabric Haul

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I went shopping at one of my favorite stores!  

I spent the last couple of years sewing down my stash. I said I will not buy anymore fabric just because it was on sale, I will only buy if I have a project in mind.  

Well, I did have a project in mind (a holiday gift) and I wanted a fabric with a particular design for that project.  That fabric is regularly priced at $10.99 per yard and I didn't want to pay that much.  Even when it went on sale for 30% off, I dithered about buying it.  It is now on sale for 40% off and I decided that it was the right time to buy it.  

In addition, I had seen a store ad for $1/yard fabric, but, that was, apparently, for netting, which I didn't need.  However, there was a line of 100% cotton fabric, which they called craft cotton, that was selling at $2/yard, which was apparently their regular price!  Well, obviously, I was very pleased to find any fabric for that price.  I filled my cart with several bolts of fabric and took them to the cutting table!

Black & White Prints

I bought one yard of the more expensive fabric I had wanted for the one specific project I had in mind, and all that was left (1.25 yards) of a blue gingham print.  I bought four yards of a purple print and three yards of everything else!  51 yards of fabric in all!  

The Coordinating Purples

I have plenty of fabric for quilt backings and borders, now.

The Blues

And lots of coordinating fabric for a planned quilt (as opposed to a scrappy quilt).

Some Yellows

An older lady who was purchasing some lace trim sort of shook her head at the quantity of fabric I was buying and said there had better be lots of quilts being made and she hoped the fabrics were on sale.  My daughter assured her that they were selling at a good price.  The lady told me that I should wash the fabric before using it and I told her that I usually do.  The store assistant who cut the fabric said that she was originally from Pennsylvania and mentioned the Amish and their handmade quilts. She had greeted my daughter with a "Namaste", assuming that we were Indian, and my daughter said she didn't have the heart to tell her that we weren't Indian.  LOL.  But, it was a nice to spend the time in small talk while the fabric was being measured and cut.

Pink with Stars and Apple Print for Daughter

The fabric came to $107.60; with city, county, and state sales taxes added, it came to a grand total of $118.33.  I was quite happy with that total.  Crafts supplies are a line item in my monthly budget and I had enough in the budget to splurge a bit.  In any case, I wanted to stock up on my craft supplies before any new tariffs go into effect and prices go up.

Today, Friday the 13th, I washed some of the fabric I bought, dried, and ironed them, ready to turn into at least two holiday gifts.

I am grateful to have a replenished fabric stash!

Another Project Mostly Finished

 

Crewel Embroidery Kit

Does anyone remember this?  Way back in September 2018, I received this piece of fabric with a stamped design and three small balls of yarn from one of the ladies in the library's knitting club that I had joined.  I didn't start on it until July 2021!  I worked on it, off and on, putting it aside for a long time because I didn't have all the colors of yarn that I would have liked, including brown for the basket and the stems. 

Eventually, I used a bit of brown knitting yarn, unraveling it to separate the strands to make it thin enough to approximate the thickness of the yarn I had been given, to sew the stems.  But, that solution didn't work for the basket.

I looked for brown crewel yarn at the craft stores, but, I didn't find any.  I didn't want to order a whole set of crewel embroidery yarn online, as I was not planning to do a lot of crewel embroidery.  So, the project sat, among my "projects in progress", until now.  

I needed a project to work on while I watched the Olympics games.  I decided that I will make the best of the situation and limit myself to the yarn I had on hand.

The Completed Crewel Embroidery

There's nothing like an orange basket to brighten up your day, is there?  LOL.

Well, the embroidery part is done and now, I'm left with wondering what to do with it!  Should I turn it into a cushion cover?  It wouldn't be super washable, I think.  Should I frame it and hang it on my wall?  Should I just donate it?  What do you suggest?

Cloudy Monday

Pink Rose 

Monday was mostly cloudy, with the daytime high in the low 60s. 

I managed to walk for 20 minutes, today.  I did 15 minutes and then, 5 additional minutes.  Needless to say, I feel very happy with myself.  

Afterwards, I watered the back garden and picked a few more pea pods.  Tossed another soccer ball over the wall, too!  

Remember the self-seeded broccoli growing in the back garden?  Here's how they looked back at the end of November, 2022:  

Self-Seeded Broccoli Seedlings: November 2022

Here's how they looked in January 2023:

Self-Seeded Broccoli Seedling: January 2023

They had grown by March:

Self-Seeded Broccoli: March 2023

I peeked inside the plant later in March for the Winter Photo Scavenger Hunt:

A Peek Inside the Broccoli Plant

And here it is, today:

Broccoli Stalk/Head: April 2023

I will wait until Wednesday to pick it, when M is here to do the honors.  Two of the other broccoli plants have much smaller stalks of broccoli; the plants are smaller, too.

Later, I did two loads of laundry and hung everything up (inside the house) to dry.

In the afternoon, I sewed on the quilt I've been repairing.  The repairs have been completed:

The Repaired Triangles Quilt

There are 14 rows of 40 triangles per row; so, 560 triangles, plus 28 half triangles at each side.  I replaced 237 full triangles plus at least 20 of the half triangles!  Where there were several pieces torn in a sort of cluster, I covered them with a hexagon and there are also two larger triangles to replace four smaller triangles.  It would have been faster if I had just sewn a new quilt top, but, it was satisfying to repair the quilt, one piece at a time.  What will I do with my afternoons now that the quilt has been repaired?  I've one less excuse to procrastinate on some housework and paperwork!  LOL!

In the evening, I watched the news, took the trash cans to the end of the driveway, and started the car.  I cooked rice for dinner, warmed up a package of frozen chicken curry, and made a cucumber salad to go have with it.  Brunch had been one of the yogurt flat bread/roti I had made when I made the "pizza" with some katta sambol from a jar.  Katta sambol is a mixture of onions, small flakes of Maldive fish (a type of dried fish), lime juice, and red chili flakes, all ground together.  I usually buy mine already prepared from the Sri Lankan store, but, it can be made at home, too.

For dessert, I made one of my famous dump cakes, using a can of fruit cocktail which had passed its best by date:

Fruit Cocktail Dump Cake

Afterwards, I washed what felt like a mountain of dishes and tidied the kitchen a bit.

On Monday, I was grateful for:

- Being able to walk for 20 minutes

- Water for the garden
- Roses and snow peas and broccoli

- Working appliances

- What I was able to accomplish

Today's joyful activity was completing the quilt repairs.  

Plans for tomorrow include putting away the laundry and tidying the house a bit.  

How was your Monday?  What are your plans for the rest of the week?

 

Saturday

Saturday morning was cloudy and overcast, but, there was some sunshine in the afternoon and we reached a high of 64F.

But, I hadn't put the heater on during Friday night and when I woke up on Saturday morning, it was 54F inside the house and I felt chilled, even though I was dressed in four layers on the top (blouse, sweatshirt, wool handknitted sweater, wool handknitted cardigan) plus a scarf, sweatpants, and wool handknitted socks!  So I put the heater on with the thermostat set at 65F and once it warmed up the house, I turned it off.  Later in the evening, I switched on the small electric heater and that has kept me warm.

I did a load of laundry (the old sheets I put on the family room sofas to keep Dancer's fur off the upholstery) in the afternoon; in an attempt to keep the gas bill low, I washed them in cold water, not warm, and hung everything up to dry.  I covered the sofas with the second set of sheets I keep for the purpose.  

I spent most of the afternoon repairing the quilt and watching some online videos.  I also texted cousin P's daughter and later, I spoke with cousin P.  Later in the evening, I called friend R to check on her and video chatted with my daughter.  

I walked a bit in the garden in the early evening, to enjoy the sunset and the scent of lemon and orange blossoms.

Dinner was more fried rice, with leftover rice and the last of the ground beef mixture I had kept in the fridge.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Working appliances
- Electricity and gas to run them
- Being able to walk in the garden
- Phone chats with family and friends
- Dancer keeping me company

Today's joyful activity was repairing the quilt.  So many of the torn pieces of fabric I am replacing came from clothing my mother sewed; she'd give me the leftover bits and pieces for my patchwork and seeing them brings me memories of her and the garments she sewed.  She had a dress made with that fabric, she sewed me a skirt with this fabric, that other piece was from a shirt my step-father wore.  We lived in a studio apartment at the time when I pieced this quilt and we had furnished it with other people's cast-offs, either given to us by family and friends or picked up from the side of the road, because we hadn't enough money to buy furniture.  I still have one of the side tables we picked up.  It's still serving a purpose in my hallway.  Ah, yes, the "good old days"!  Such nostalgia!

Friday

Osteospermum Flowers

I had a fasting blood test this morning, so after I got up, I had a cup of plain, hot water instead of my tea.  Then, I went for the blood test.  I left a little early because I needed to check in 15 minutes before the appointed time and I got there in good time, today.  I was called in right away and had my blood drawn by my favorite phlebotomist.  She's the one who gave me her phone number to call if I needed any groceries or other items picked up during the lockdown, saying she can drop the items off at my door step, after work, for contactless delivery!  It was such a lovely offer and, although I didn't take her up on her offer, I have not forgotten how kind it was of her to offer.  

After I came home (no, I didn't stop to pick up any food!), I said my morning prayers, checked on the garden a bit, opened the doors and windows to air out the house because it was warmer outdoors than inside the house, and had toast with cream cheese and strawberry jam for brunch (the bagels have all been eaten!)  I made myself a glass of passionfruit lemonade with two of the passionfruits and a lemon from the garden.  

In the afternoon, I watched some videos and continued to repair the quilt top.  I hand sew only when there is natural light, so afternoons have become my time to repair the quilt.

M arrived to tend to the garden around 5:00 p.m. and I served him some of the brownies I had made.  He had bought some fertilizer, etc., that were needed for the fruit trees, and I reimbursed him.  Today, he fertilized the fruit trees and watered the garden, both front and back.  

I watched the news in the evening and a TV program, spoke on the phone with friend R, exchanged emails with a friend, replied to blog comments, made fried rice for dinner, and chatted with my daughter.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Access to medical care
- Friendly staff
- A safe drive to the lab and back
- M tending to the garden
- Internet access

Today's joyful activities included video chatting with my daughter and sewing.

No special plans for tomorrow.  But, there might be a load or two of laundry happening!  LOL.

Did you have a good day on Friday?  Any plans for the weekend?

The Weekend

Darning Socks

I've had a relatively quiet weekend.

Saturday was partly cloudy, partly sunny and the daytime high was 58F.  I felt cold, but, didn't want to put the heater on during the day, although, I eventually put it on in the evening (and turned it off before I went to bed).  I did a load of laundry in the morning and hung everything up to dry.  Later, I ran the dishwasher partly because I haven't used it in a couple of weeks.  I always turn it off once the washing cycle has completed and open the door to let the dishes air dry to save on electricity.  I cooked one of the trays of chicken (made a chicken curry) and froze most of.  There were 10 thighs and I kept one cooked piece out and froze the rest in packages of three pieces each.  In between, I cleaned the litter box, chatted on the phone with former neighbor T, called friend R to check on her, emailed a friend and video chatted with my daughter.  Brunch had been a bagel with cream cheese, dinner was leftover macaroni and cheese with chicken curry.  

Sunday was Superbowl Sunday.  I watched the game in the afternoon.  While I watched the game, I mended two of my handknitted wool socks.  I had noticed that one of my blue knitted socks had a big hole in the heel, yesterday, and started to darn it.  Unfortunately, I don't have a wooden darning egg or darning mushroom; I used a fresh lemon, instead!  I didn't have any matching wool, but, I used some leftover grey wool, instead, and it worked out well.  I actually started mending that sock on Saturday and finished it, today, using a regular darning stitch which is similar to weaving.  Then, I noticed that one of the socks I was wearing had a rather worn out heel; not torn yet, but, in need of reinforcing before it tore.  I mended it, too, using the same grey wool, but, using the duplicate stitch instead of the darning stitch.  I am happy I was able to mend my socks and extend their use a little longer.

I put the heater on in the morning to warm up the house and then, turned it off.  Later in the evening, I switched on the electric space heater.  Brunch was a toasted bagel and cream cheese; dinner was rice, green beans, chicken curry, and peach chutney.

This weekend, I am grateful for:

- Having the option of using the big gas heater to warm up the entire house or the small electric heater to warm up the area where I am sitting
- Being able to darn my socks and extend their useful life
- Working appliances
- Phone calls, video chats, emails, etc., with family and friends
- Plenty of knitted and crocheted blankets on hand to warm me up when needed

The weekend's joyful activities included mending socks and watching football.

How was your weekend?  Did you watch the Superbowl?  Do you mend socks?  

Sunny Monday

Helper Kitty

Last night (Sunday night), I didn't turn the big gas heater on at all and used the electric space heater in the family room.  I had it set at a low temperature, but, close to where I was seated, so I stayed nice and warm.  I turned it off before I went to sleep.  I have made my bed with layers of quilts and blankets - there is a quilt and a blanket under the flannel fitted sheet, and I cover myself with a flannel flat sheet, two blankets, and two quilts!  Plus, I wear a pair of wool socks that I knitted and, last night, I wore my knitted neck warmer, as well!  I was comfortably warm, but, not hot.  I'm not kidding when I say I feel cold.    

This morning, when I woke up, the house was at 54F.  I turned on the gas heater for a short time while I said my morning prayers and drank my cup of tea.  The thermostat has now been set at 65F, but, I turned the heater off before it reached that temperature.  I was dressed in layers and I felt comfortable.  Besides, it was a sunny day and the afternoon high went up to 67F.  (But, the night time low will be 48F, tonight.)

After I turned the heater off, I got busy with dusting the living room, dining area, and family room.  Then, I vacuumed the living room, dining area, hallway leading to the bedrooms, and the kitchen.  I started on the family room, but, when I vacuumed under one of the sofas, I discovered that my daughter had accidentally left a pair of socks under there!  I managed to pull one of the socks out of the vacuum cleaner, but, the other sock had got lodged in the vacuum cleaner hose!  (It's a canister vacuum cleaner).  I disconnected the hose and took part of the handle apart but, I couldn't see where the sock might be lodged.  I am assuming it is lodged somewhere because there is no suction power when I turn the vacuum cleaner on.  I didn't feel like pulling the manual out and taking the whole thing apart, so, I left that for tomorrow.  But, that was the end of the vacuuming (and housework) for today!  Later, I cleaned the litter box and took the trash cans to the end of the driveway to be picked up, tomorrow, but, that was all.

In the afternoon, it was 67F and breezy outside and 62F inside the house.  So, I opened a couple of windows and the front door to create some air flow, to hopefully warm up the house, but, it didn't do much!  I walked outside for a bit and it was warm in the sun, but, cool in the shade.  I had considered watering the front garden, today, but, it was too windy and by the time the wind died down, it was after sunset and too cold to be watering!  

Once again, I spent the afternoon sewing, repairing the quilt.  As you can see, Dancer was on hand to lend a helping paw and do some quality control!  Well, he might have slept on the job, a bit, but, that was after he took a good look to see that I was doing the repairs properly.  

Oh, and the gas company sent me my monthly energy report for November 19 - December 19, 2022, showing how much the "energy efficient" houses used (34 therms), how much the "similar" households used (67 therms), and how much I used (134 therms).  Yes, I know how I compare with other households; maybe they don't feel as cold as I do!

I was going to do a meal plan, today, but, I didn't.  Brunch was a scrambled egg and a piece of toast.  I was going to have soup for dinner, but, I had fried potato slices, instead, and half an apple.  I just wasn't hungry for a full meal.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Dancer's help with various projects
- Sunny days and warmer afternoons
- My stash of quilts and blankets!
- The electric space heaters and electricity to run them
- What I managed to accomplish today

Today's joyful activity was sewing in the afternoon sunshine with Dancer!

Tuesday plans include a visit to the cemetery (my mother's death anniversary), maybe a trip to the Temple, and more quilt repairs, of course.  My daughter is scheduled to fly back from Hawaii, tomorrow; I hope she'll have a safe and smooth flight back.

How was your Monday?  Did you have a good start to your week?  What are your plans for Tuesday?

Restful Sunday

I went to sleep after 4:00 a.m., so, I slept in, this morning.  The weather forecast had said we'd have some rain this morning, but, it was quite sunny when I woke up and the ground was dry.  Maybe it rained while I was still asleep or maybe it rained in other areas.  

Chicken Little was waiting with Mama Cat when I opened the sliding glass door to feed Mama Cat.  I got clucked at, perhaps because I was late with breakfast, having slept in!  LOL!  

I spent a relaxed afternoon repairing the triangles quilt my daughter had brought down when she visited in November.  I had put it away during the holidays and didn't even touch it in January.  So, this afternoon, I sat in front of the living room window, with the afternoon sun coming in from the window, cut out a few more triangles and sewed them on.  Hand sewing takes time, and I only sewed about four patches, but, it is very meditative.  

I called my cousin P who moved to Florida and left her a message, called friend R and chatted with her, and emailed a friend.  Later in the evening, I video chatted with my daughter; she had a good day she said, her friend and friend's husband took her and a couple of their relatives out to lunch and afterwards, daughter did some exploring on her own and got to watch a hula dance performance and part of a Chinese dragon dance before she returned to the hotel.

Today, I am grateful for:

- A relaxed, restful day
- Sunshine
- Daughter had a fun day
- Being able to sew
- My fabric stash!

Today's joyful activities included chatting with my daughter and sewing.

Plans for Monday include more sewing, some housework, and maybe watering the front garden.

How was your Sunday?  What have you planned for Monday?

Triangles Quilt

"Thousand Pyramids" Quilt

This is a quilt I made back in 1980.  My mother used it and more recently, my daughter has been using it.  I repaired it once, in 2015, replacing some of the torn patches and wrote about it, here.

Well, daughter brought it back down with her on this trip.  It's due for more repairs!

Worn and Torn

I don't know if cutting out more triangles and piecing them individually on top of the torn patches will work, this time around.  There are too many sections that have been worn and torn:

At least five patches need to be replaced in just this section

My daughter doesn't mind what the quilt design is; she only wants it to be soft!  

In the meantime, I've given her another quilt to take up with her.  It's one that I made in 1990, called Texas Star Quilt. 

What would you suggest I do?  Should I make a new quilt top and attach that over the existing quilt top?  Or, should I sew triangles to cover the torn ones?  What would you do?

Cats and Scraps!

The Cat Quilt

The latest quilt is done!  It started out being a scrappy, "stash buster" quilt.  I didn't start out with a particular quilt design in mind, but let it evolve as I sewed it.  I've shared the process here on the blog in previous posts.  

"Stash Buster" Quilt

Midway through piecing the top, I knew I had to incorporate the eight cat blocks I had made earlier.  Seven of the blocks featured a cat that was sort of plopped down and one had a cat that was sitting more upright.  That last block didn't look right on the top of the quilt (and I had made a mistake with the proportions when I made it) but, I knew I will include it, somewhere in the quilt!  

The Eighth Cat Block

Once I attached the cat blocks, I knew what this quilt was going to be called and I had the perfect (or should that be "purr-fect"?) piece of fabric in my stash to use as the backing!

The "Purr-fect" Backing!
And the 8th Cat Block!

I had bought the cat fabric more than 10 years ago!  I had wanted to make a quilt with it for my daughter, but, she thought the colors were dull and I couldn't bring myself to cut it up for tote bags, etc.  So it sat in my stash until now!  

I tied the quilt along the inner borders and did a line of machine quilting along the outside borders (which caused the borders to pucker!)  I did a line of hand quilting outlining the cats in the cat blocks and a heart.

Outline Quilting on the Cat Blocks

 I quilted the date on the bottom of the quilt:

Quilted Date
(and a portion of the line of machine quilting along the border)

A big thank you to Dancer for his assistance with this quilt!

The Best Quilter's Assistant!

Rain and Tying Quilts on Saturday

Dancer Helps to Tie the Quilt!
(Note the blue yarn under his paw)

We had another shower of rain, this morning!  Not quite the thunder storm that was in the forecast (at least, not in my area, other areas might have received more rain), but, enough rain to wet the ground!  I'll take all the rain I can get!

The day remained cloudy even after the rain ceased, with a daytime high of 71F.  It is supposed to be 71F tomorrow, too.  

Today, Dancer helped me to tie the quilt, although there were times when he thought he should be allowed to do it all by himself and I had my hand scratched for interfering!

"I do it myself, Mummy"

Both brunch and dinner were leftover Thai food!  I called R and thanked her again.

Daughter did her weekly grocery shopping and submitted the drawing for today:

Prompt: Armadillo
"Performing Sandshrews from Pokemon"

According to my daughter, the sandshrews remind her of armadillos.

Since the night time temperatures are going down to the low 60s, I set out a cardboard box lined with a couple of old kitchen towels for Mama Cat, in a sheltered corner under the back patio overhang, but, so far, she has ignored it.  I hope she finds it and uses it.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Rain!
- Dancer's help with the quilt tying!
- Leftover Thai food
- Shawls to keep me warm
- Video chatting with my daughter

Today's joyful activity was tying the quilt with Dancer's help!

According to the forecast, tomorrow will be another mostly cloudy and cool day, with a high of 71F.  Plans include finishing up the quilt!

How was your Saturday?  What are your plans for Sunday?

 

Rain on Tuesday!

Day 9: Nest
"Who is the girl? Based on any character?"
"No, just a girl from my imagination" 

We had a shower of rain, this afternoon!  Right after I had watered some of the plants in the front garden with buckets of water I had saved from when I had showered!  Not a very heavy shower of rain, but, there was a flash of lightning followed by a clap of thunder, loud enough to scare Dancer, and then, a brief shower of rain for about 15 minutes.  It was long enough to wet the ground.   We need a few more showers of rain like that!

Day 10: Crabby 
"Krabby, a character from Pokemon"

Neighbor S called me in the morning to tell me that she had put some of her overflow trash into my black trash bin that was out on the curb waiting to be picked up and I told her that was not a problem at all.  Then, she asked me if I would like some chocolate covered strawberries that her niece had made and I said I'd love to have some.  She also brought me some other chocolates that had an orange gel like filling:

Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Other Chocolates
Compliments of S

I was able to give some fresh papaya that I had peeled and cut this morning to neighbor S in exchange (she had already declined my offer of turkey-vegetable soup, saying she had a lot of food leftover from the family gathering over the weekend).

Yesterday, Monday, I started on my Fall house cleaning.  I know that most people tend to do Spring cleaning, but, I like to do a Fall cleaning, too.  I washed the inside of the front door, dusted the windowsills and dusted the living room furniture.  I will wait until it is closer to the end of the month to decorate for Halloween, though.  Later in the day, I cleaned the bathroom and the litter box, took the trash cans to the curb, and did some paperwork.

Day 11: Eagle
"Bald Eagle drawn from an online image"

Today (Tuesday), I sewed on the quilt a little more, sewing down one of the sides.  It's coming along! 

I also cleaned the kitchen, a little bit - I don't know how the kitchen counters get so messy, but, they do!   

Today, I am grateful for:

- Rain!  It wasn't much, but, it was something and that's better than nothing!

- Chocolate covered strawberries and other chocolate goodies from S
- Being able to give some papaya to S in return 
- Phone calls with cousin and friends, including neighbor T
- Weekly trash collections

Today's joyful activity was sewing on the quilt.

Plans for tomorrow include tending to the garden with M and tidying/cleaning the dining area.  

How was your Tuesday?  What are your plans for Wednesday?  Do you do Fall cleaning?