White Trash, enjoying the fire, Jeannie & Jim, skillet protectors

I got Mexican Chicken Soup in the crockpot Friday morning (11/28) and then THE GREAT HOLIDAY CANDY MAKING OF 2014 commenced!!!  I got 6 runs of WHITE TRASH made and Michael got them all bagged/boxed up. 

I worked a bit on my Christmas gift giving list, and I need around 90 items to give away…I’ve cut down a bit over the years.  Then I decided to treat myself and start sewing together another charity quilt that Michael had laid out.  Michael got to read his book in front of the fire, while Cookie & Elsie enjoyed it also. 

I was really hungry by 1:30 and decided to see what we had to nosh.  You know the usual problem with eating Thanksgiving dinner out, is that you don’t have any of the great leftovers…that was SO not the case this year.  I went through the bags and containers that Debra sent home with us and OMgosh!!!  I made up a fabulous plate of leftovers (including the yummy gravy she put in a zip lock bag) for lunch.  The only problem was…I ate such a big lunch, and it was a bit late, so I was not very hungry for dinner at all  :~(. 

 Jeannie & Jim

came over at 5:30 PM, and Jeannie brought me the most beautiful gift.  Michael and I have been using old paper Christmas plates to separate our skillets in the cupboard.  In fact, one time Michael took out a skillet, set it on the stove and turned on the burner.  He turned away for a second, and when he turned back... there were FLAMES coming out from under the skillet…he picked it up and yep…..one of the plates had stuck to the bottom of the skillet and caught on fire.  Jeannie makes ‘separators’ and she made a set specially color coded for us…they are perfect! 

So we went from this....

to this.....

to this....

and they're larger than the plates too...so they really keep the skillets
from scratching the one below....

We had our soup and rolls for dinner, then had a good time playing SCREWED and GOLF and just talking.  They left a bit after 9 and I read for a bit while Michael watched TV before heading to bed.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!  We had a wonderfully relaxing day.  I made a chocolate pie and roll dough in the morning, but still had a lot of studio time.  Michael took Cookie for a walk and later in the morning, both of them got in some reading

 

 

At 2 PM, we headed over to Debra & John’s for Thanksgiving dinner…

 

and what a FABULOUS dinner it was!!!  All of our favorites were there: mashed potatoes, stuffing (EXCELLENT!!), gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans with bacon, broccoli casserole, turkey & rolls.  John did a MASTERFUL (and quick) job carving the turkey…I thought his platter arrangement looked good enough for a magazine cover. 

look at that turkey on the left....perfect!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course we played games after dinner….DICE-capades was the name of the game (they always have such unusual games that are lots of fun) and we all enjoyed it.  We didn’t get home until after 6 and we lounged around watching TV, eating popcorn and knitting.  A thoroughly enjoyable day!

ascot, enjoying the fire

Michael took the car in for service on Tuesday morning (11/25) while I spent a pleasant morning in the studio with Nancy H.  She left just before NOON and I called Joanne to tell her I wanted to skip Stitch & Chat to go to Hobby Lobby instead, as (thanks to Nancy) I had discovered an urgent need for fabric :~).  She agreed that she too might want to pick up a few things, so off we went.  I found the PERFECT fabric to fill in for a project I am starting on Wednesday, and also found FABULOUS flannel for the embroidered baby quilt backing (whenever I finally get back to it!)  When we got home, I called Jan and we made a quick trip to the library.  It was cast party leftovers again for dinner, then Michael took off for the movies to see BIRDMAN, and although I had intentions of starting to sew….I instead got involved in my library book (the latest from Louise Penny) and I read until 10 when Michael got home.  He took a picture of my finished ascot…this will be a Christmas gift for my across the street neighbor Anne….courtesy of my friend Connie, who gave me the yarn!

 

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Wednesday (11/26) was a very relaxing day....the forecast said rain, so MIchael cancelled his golfing and we both spent time downstairs with Michael playing pool and me cutting strips and we both spent time reading in front of the fire....with company

 

I had my weekly SKYPE session with Janice, and as usual that was lots of fun...then we both spent time watching TV (with me knitting) in the evening.

Dennis's quilt

Monday morning I woke up before 5 AM and couldn’t get back to sleep.  Finally at 6 I decided to head downstairs and start back with the quilt again.  I thought a lot about what happened on row 4 and thought that I had figured out a way to correct it…and I had  :~).  I got the other 7 rows finished by 10:30 (with time out for breakfast when Michael got up…I was STARVING!) and started to put the binding on.  That took a couple of hours…with a little time out to put bread dough together.  I was so tired I told Michael that I needed a nap, and took an hour long one!  Then I got to sit on the back porch (it was a beautiful day in the 70’s) and weave in all of the ends of the quilting thread where my bobbins ran out, or I had a problem.  We baked the bread and took 1/2 a loaf to Jeannie on the way to dropping off the quilt.  So…Michael golfs with the same core group of golfers every week.  One of the guys and his wife went up to Pittsburgh to scout out a place to have the rehearsal dinner for their son’s wedding.  They never got to do that…Dennis ended up with a gall bladder attack that put him in the hospital right away.  Then he got pancreatitis and almost died.  He was in intensive care for over a week.  (Side note to the Fiber Floozies…never again will I think I’m foolish for packing WAY MORE YARN than I can knit up during my vacation….sometimes bad things happen and you need stuff to do when your ‘vacation’ lasts longer than you think!!)  He finally got to come home, but was very weak and on oxygen 24/7.  The only thing he could eat was canned vegetables while he was trying to gain strength for gall bladder surgery.  I just felt led to make this quilt…and I am glad I did. 

the middle white background fabric has a golf motif

my standard label...are you sick of seeing it yet?

look at that stippling....I LOVE it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He was sleeping when we dropped it off, but they called later in the evening.  Sue (his wife) mentioned that he has had a hard time getting warm…so I’m hoping this quilt with the snuggle-y flannel backing will help. 

Michael and I were both still beat Monday night, so we just picked at cast party leftovers for dinner while we sat and watched TV for the entire evening!  I was knitting and managed to finish an ascot for my across the street neighbor for Christmas….pics tomorrow.

Mexican chicken soup, chocolate pie/baklava cups, Elsie & Cookie a duex, cast party

Michael ran to the store for a few things for me early Sunday morning (11/23) and I had cinnamon rolls waiting for him when he got home.  While he was gone, I got Mexican Chicken Soup in the crockpot (people went CRAZY for it...we didn't have any left!)

 

and put together the 2 ruebenwiches.  Then I headed downstairs to start quilting the quilt.  Miss Scarlet hiccupped on row 4 and I couldn’t get her to recognize where she was in the pattern, so I just shut her down and headed upstairs again.  It was around 1:30 PM, so I made a chocolate pie and baklava cups....

 

 

2 loaves of corn bread , and got mulled cider in Paula’s borrowed crockpot, vacuumed the house and washed up all the dishes.  By then it was 4 PM and I was beat!  I sat down and read my book with my feet up for just a bit, then turned on the oven and put together a mushroom & spinach pizza and a pepperoni & onion pizza.  Others were waiting for the guests to arrive as well...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People started arriving and raving over the food! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a wonderful time and I think everyone really liked the potholders as gifts.  Michael had wrapped all of them, and the people who have received cast gifts from us before were REALLY excited to see what the new one was.  Everyone left around 9 and both of us just collapsed and watched TV a bit before bed.

Michael left for an early morning doctor’s appointment on Friday (11/21) and I was at my sewing machine by 8 AM.  Other than a brief stop for lunch, I sewed until 4 PM and got all of the blocks finished and sewn together and the first border on the quilt.  I gave myself a break and talked with my honey, had dinner, and read my book for a bit before heading back to the studio at 7:30 PM.  I sewed until 11 PM….VERY grateful that I got a second wind :~).  I got the second border on and the quilt top all ironed, ready to be loaded onto Miss Scarlet.  I got the blue/green/purple quilt off of Miss Scarlet and all trimmed before collapsing in my chair to read my book.  Ten minutes later the phone rang and Michael was on his way home (they went out for food/conversation after the show).  He was home before mid-night and we both collapsed into bed.

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I was on the road by 8:30 AM Saturday morning (11/22) to hit WALMART to buy food for the cast party on Sunday.  I plan to make Mexican Chicken Soup, reubenwiches and 2 kinds of pizza, and maybe a few other things as time allows.  Then it was on to Joann’s to get flannel backing fabric for the quilt.  That went in the washer the minute I got home and I had a quick breakfast before heading back to the studio at 11:30.  Michael had a frost delay for golfing, so they did a shotgun start at 10:10 here at SCCL.  The flannel was washed and dried by 1:30 and I sewed a seam down the back and loaded it on Miss Scarlet.  The flannel shrunk so much that I was afraid to sew a very deep seam….so some of the selvage showed, but I decided that it was the softest flannel I found, and that was worth a little selvage.  PLUS, I had to trim an inch off of the outside border on all 4 sides of the quilt top.  I got everything loaded up, but couldn’t get started because my clamps wouldn’t hold :~(.  I have these very persnickety clamps, and if you leave on open for any length of time, it won’t work until you close it for several hours.  I left one of the clamps open when I took the blue/green/purple quilt off….so I contented myself with making binding while I was waiting.  I finally got the quilt layered and basted and all of the binding made before heading upstairs to clean up and go to pick up Jeannie.  I had a tour of her studio and she has made a TON of stuff for a craft fair in a couple of weeks!!  We went to dinner at SALSARITA’s and I ordered a water to drink.  Jeannie was a bit behind me and the counter gal asked if Jeannie would order a water as well.  I said ‘I have no idea, it’s our first date’…..her expression was priceless!  Anyway, after a good Mexican meal we headed into Charlotte for the Symphony de Soleil performance of the Charlotte Symphony Pops.  It was terrific…the music was so thrilling with the overtures of STAR WARS & SUPERMAN, along with a Beatles medley and Bethovan’s 5^th to name just a few.  The acrobats were terrifying & incredible.  I was home by 11:30 and Michael and I sat and talked for just 1/2 an hour before falling into bed.  He said the next to the last performance went well…except for a few snafus….like the door wouldn’t open when it was supposed to…it kept locking itself!  Ahh….the thrill of live theatre!

Thursday (11/20) went by in a flash….I was out the door early to go to quilting, and spent my time sewing up strata for a new quilt.  I did a couple of errands on the way home, and got home around 2:30.  Then it was straight to the studio to start sewing together strips for my friend’s quilt.  I sewed until 5 of 6, then ran upstairs, brushed my hair, made hot chocolate for my dinner and went to the play with Michael.  It was wonderful to see it again…I sat in a different spot in the theatre and noticed things I hadn’t seen before.  We were home just after 10 and read for an hour before bed.

Elsie & Cookie, stipple pattern on new quilt

I was in such a hurry to get my blog entry out yesterday morning that I neglected to tell you everything about Tuesday night.  I think Barb (who has been coming over semi-regularly to knit on Tuesday nights) is my good luck charm!!  After all, it was she who found the beautiful multi-colored mohair that I am using for a sweater for myself.  She saved me lots of $$$ from buying new yarn when she found that mohair in my stash.  Then last night, I was complaining to her about my knitting tools.  I told her that about 2 years ago, my knitting bag of tools was too full and I decided to just keep one of everything in my regular knitting bag…and to put all of my duplicates into a second bag.  Well, for the past 3 weeks I have been looking for that second bag, as I need another counter and another pair of scissors.  I had looked and looked in the 3 places that that second bag normally lives…..no dice  :~(.  She walked me over to the media room and said ‘look again, I’ll bet it’s here and you just missed it’.  I told her I had looked 3 times and it wasn’t there….but as I was looking yet again…and she was urging me to be very thorough…guess what…..yep…found it!!!!  I was really glad because I didn’t want to spend more $$$ on a new counter and a small pair of scissors when I KNEW I had them somewhere….I think Barb is a good person to have around :~).

I was up early on Wednesday (11/19) to pick up Jan shortly after 8 AM to head to Gastonia.  We hit 3 fabric stores, as I was looking for fabric to go with my stash to make 3 separate quilts….and I managed to find everything I wanted.  Jan also found many beautiful fabrics that she just HAD to HAVE  :~).  Michael got to relax a little in the morning with his own pair of snuggle bunnies. 

 

I wasn’t home until 2 PM, and immediately threw 3 of the fabrics into the washer.  Normally I don’t wash my fabric….but I hope to back this quilt with polar fleece…and since that doesn’t shrink at all, I thought I’d better get the shrink out of the new fabric as well.  I headed downstairs to finish the last 2 rows on my blue/green/purple quilt (final pics after it is bound and labeled, but it was a stippling pattern again)

 

and Beth came over for help with her Christmas stocking.  I put together a vegetarian quinoa casserole for dinner for us and for my neighbors Anne & Bryce, and Michael left for a pick up rehearsal at 6, while I headed to the studio to iron and cut the washed fabric.  I got the fabric all ironed before Janice called at 7:30 and we talked for an hour….SKYPE wasn’t exactly working.  Anyway, I got started on cutting my strips (this quilt is going to be for a friend going through a very rough time….more on that later…after it is done) and got them all done before Michael arrived home at 9.  We watched TV and I continued to knit on the ascot until bedtime.

I was up early on Tuesday (11/18) to get my batting cut and my top ironed and layered on Miss Scarlet.  One thing I’ve decided is that I need some kind of new ironing board.  I have (and love) my grandmother’s rickety old ironing board, but it is very small.  I’m starting to do bigger quilts and I can’t iron them or the backing properly on it.  PLUS, I really would like to have a rectangular ironing board, because I’m always doing fabric on it…not shirts or clothes…haven’t decided exactly what to do yet.  Anyway, Nancy H came by for the morning and we had a lovely visit while she knit and I got all of my bobbins wound and continued to adjust my quilt top so that it was centered and ‘square’ on the machine.  Nancy left around lunchtime, and I had a piece of toast with peanut butter before Joanne picked me up for Stitch & Chat.  I worked a bit on a new ascot (that I am making for my across the street neighbor) and also helped a few people with their projects before Joanne and I hit Wendy’s for junior frostys before heading home.  I was really nervous about quilting on the new quilt because it is full of stretchy doe suede, but just told myself I needed to just suck it up and start to see how bad it would be.  I put in new needle and started off with my new variegated thread…and not a bit of a problem…WHOO HOO!!  I got 8 out of 10 rows finished before Barb showed up to knit.  Michael went to the movies to see INTERSTELLAR with Larry (they both complained about the same thing…just like TV…too much background music to hear the dialogue!!!)  Barb and I had a nice time sitting in front of the fire, knitting and talking.  Michael was home after 10 and I was exhausted so I hopped into bed while he sat up and read for just a bit.

I had quite a busy morning on Monday (11/17) I left just after 9 AM for a volunteer board meeting, then we had the regular membership meeting at 10:30.  By 11:30 I was in the ballroom with my pans of rolls (thanks to Michael).  Our insurance agent hosts a luncheon for her clients every year.  You are invited during the month of your renewal….so she is actually cooking for luncheons every month!  Anyway, last year she had this yummy chicken/broccoli casserole that she made…with cold, store bought rolls, and I said ‘next year I’m making rolls’.  So our luncheon was today and that’s what I made the 60 rolls for.  Michael brought the pans up with him while I was in my meetings, and I cooked them during Karen’s (our agent) presentation.  I think they were a big hit and several people told me how heavenly they smelled.  We got home after 1 PM and while Michael went over his lines, I went through my stash to see what kind of fabric I needed for a new project I want to start.  I also managed to get a new backing ironed and loaded up on Miss Scarlet before heading upstairs for dinner, TV, starting a new knitting project and snuggling with my honey for the rest of the evening.

Michael practices for the INDY 500, a new quilt

Sunday (11/16) was all about Charlotte Motor Speedway and Michael going 170 miles per hour in a  Mario Andretti INDY car!!!  He bought this opportunity on GROUPON and finally got a chance to use it.  At first he wasn’t sure his long legs would fit down in that very narrow car….but by the end, he said he had a great time, and wanted to immediately go and do it again! 

he's assigned a number

my suave honey, posing for a pre-trip pic

he gets his helmet on

and a neck brace

and he enters the car

trying to fit those long legs in...

and he's back!!!  it was over in a flash

whoa....doesn't quite have his land legs yet...but ready to
go again!!!

We had a leisurely drive on the way home (and picked up Chinese for dinner for Michael), and I was in the studio until dinner working on the orange quilt.  I had Paula’s bean soup for dinner, and formed the 60 rolls I am donating to a luncheon on Monday, before settling down with Michael to eat popcorn and watch GHOSTBUSTER’S.  After the popcorn I went back to the hand finishing needed on the quilt, and by bedtime I had this 

 

 

 

And I am ready to load up another quilt.

pot holders, Elsie & Cookie

My honey made me a yummy egg/cheese/toast Saturday morning (11/15) before making himself a mushroom & spinach omelet.  I headed to the studio after that to finish up the potholders.  The most tedious part of this project was turning the pot holders and using a T-pin to pull out all of the edges, but by 2 Pm all 15 potholders were done. 

same front on all but 2 different backs

 

Then it was back to the orange quilt…pulling in ends (from where the bobbin ran out during a row) and making a binding and label.  I made good progress on making and beginning to sew the binding on, even though I took a long nap (I think I was just tired from the party on Friday).  Michael left at 6 PM for another performance, and I read my book for a bit, then put together dough for 60 rolls that I will need on Monday.  I putzed in my studio for a bit in the evening, with some company 

 

waiting for Godot....I mean Ga-dad!

 

My honey came home after another wonderful performance around 10:30, and we watched a bit of TV before bed.

 

assembly line potholders, last rose, pot luck dinner

I was up early Friday morning (11/14) with lots to do…and a secondary motive of keeping Cookie busy so that Michael might get to sleep in a little!  Today is all about potholders.  I got all of the stitches trimmed last night, so first thing this morning I ripped off the stabilizer and started cutting and ironing for the backs and pockets.  Once everything was cut into 8 inch squares, I placed everything in an assembly line and started stitching. 

from the top left I have batting, insulbrite (I found that one layer of
insulbrite is not enough to stop the heat from being transmitted),
embroidered top of pot holders, bottom row is side pockets,
backing and then on stacked and pinned...all ready to go

 

I stitched for quite a while (stopping for a really short visit from Paula who returned my soup/bread dishes, but of course they were all full of bean soup, corn muffins and cookies…that woman is amazing!) and managed to get quite a bit done by 3:30 when I headed upstairs to get cleaned up and set up the house with Michael.  He had cut what is probably our last rose of the season, and it is a beauty! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had 33 people for a pot luck dinner

although not everyone was invited....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

before leaving to see Michael in WAIT UNTIL DARK….and he was FABULOUS!  Although I don’t really like it when he plays a ‘bad guy’, he was kind of the nicest of the 3 evil guys.  The woman playing the blind wife was tremendous, although she must go home every night with bruises everywhere.  Michael and I got home around 10:30 and finished cleaning up from the party and relaxed and read a bit before heading for bed.