Elsie & Cookie, embroidery, dinner!

Comporium was at the house just after 8 AM on Monday morning (1/30) and got our phones and internet up and running!  I was already in my studio, stitching on the Steelers quilt and I was done by 10:30, just in time to meet with our contractor to talk over his bid for our back deck.  That took over an hour since we have decided to go ahead, and then had to pick out a variety of trims, flooring, etc.  I had brunch after he left, and headed downstairs again around 1 PM.  Michael joined me at one point to go over his emails, and of course that meant we had company:

should I or shouldn't I?

I should!

By 3 PM I had all of the bobbin ends woven in, all of the basting ripped out and the quilt was trimmed.  I also cleaned up the 3 new embroideries completed for a Clinton quilt:  

My honey knew I wanted to get started right away on another customer quilt, so he made a FABULOUS dinner while I continued to work:  

In case you can’t tell, it’s meatloaf, potato/carrot mash and green beans.  We settled in the media room after that and I continued to work on my sweater.

pancake breakfast, Queen's Feast

My honey and I had a wonderful pecan pancake & bacon breakfast on Sunday (1/29), 

bacon - master!

after which he headed to the grocery store and I headed to my studio.  I cleaned my machine, changed needles, wound all of my bobbins and then proceeded to set up the pattern.  For some reason my program locked up, but finally by NOON I was ready to start stitching.  I kicked off the quilting….

loaded up a new Clinton embroidery and got that going, and even managed to do a bit of idiot sewing….just sewing 5 inch scrap blocks together willy-nilly.  I kept up everything until 4 PM when I needed to get ready to leave for dinner.  Joanne & Larry picked us up at 4:25 to head to TRIO’s for the Queen’s Feast…and what a feast it was. 

Michael and I had peach sparklers to start (Peach Schnapps with Champagne)....yum!!  And our starters were baby greens for Michael and Larry, spinach salad for me (and it was SO GOOD...I haven't had one in forever and it was yummy), while Joanne got the New England Clam Chowder.

Entrees: I had lobster ravioli:

Michael had the filet (and I gave him a couple of my shrimps so that he could have surf 'n' turf):

While Joanne & Larry had scallops & shrimp:

Dessert was French Silk Pie for MIchael:

Caramel Nut Brownie for Joanne:

While Larry & I both had the Almond Nut Basket with cinnamon ice cream....HEAVEN!

look at that presentation!!!

When we got home we both plopped down on the couch and didn’t move for several hours!  I started to take the dog out at 9 PM, and was going to give Jan a call, but our phone was out.  So I walked to a neighbor’s house and called COMPORIUM, who said they would send someone out in the morning.  We both watched TV and I got my 2 sleeves totally finished and all of the ends woven in…now I just have to pick up the front bands and I will be done…it is so cute!

rolls, an egg, Cookie & Elsie, new quilt, cookies

I heard from 3 of my latest bread students….when the students leave here from this first class, they leave with a pan full of rolls and a blob of dough.  They need to figure out something to do with that extra blob!  One student is going to make pizza, and one student wrote “I made cinnamon, brown sugar, current, ground nut, and butter rolls. That is what I had on hand to use. I got 6,  3+ inch  spiral rolls and they were so good”.  And Patti sent me great pictures: 

before baking....

they look PERFECT!!

I LOVE hearing about my student’s bread experiences after they leave  :~).  

Saturday morning (1/28) my honey was up early for golf here at SCCL.  He made his usual mushroom/spinach/swiss omelet, then had enough time to make me an egg/cheese toast before he left:  

My goal on Saturday was to load up first of 4 customer quilts (recently received) onto Miss Scarlett.  I can’t believe how quickly I can go from no customer quilts (and the dream of quilting one of my own) to 4 just like that!  I ran down to Joanne’s in the morning to give an opinion on her baby quilt, and when I got home Connie was there for a visit.  We went over all of her knitting questions, and I got back to my quilt around 11:30.  Pat stopped by for a visit and to give me a MARVELOUS (and totally unexpected) present for the upcoming granddaughter….you’ll have to wait until Marc & Kate see it before I post a picture…but suffice it to say it is FABULOUS and ADORABLE!!!  I had company while I was in my studio…these pictures should all be labeled “waiting for dad”:

I was finally finished loading and basting the quilt at 2:30:

getting ready to roll up the backing

all loaded and basted

and headed upstairs to get started on cookies.  I make chocolate chip cookies rarely because even though I have tried several different recipes (including using some/all shortening instead of butter because shortening spreads less than butter)….to me the cookies always come out too flat, with the chocolate chips being the highest thing on the cookie.  But this time, I decided to bake the cookie “balls” in my mini-muffin tins….voila…..they are so cute and not too thin at all:  

I got them all bagged up and we headed out to the Fort Mill Playhouse.  They rented out the space to an IMPROV group and Michael and I volunteered to work concessions.  We only had to stay through the intermission, so we were home shortly after 9 PM and we both sat in the front of the fire, reading our books until 11 PM.

Bread Baking Class

Friday (1/27) seemed to go by in a flash.  We spent much of the morning talking to a contractor about things we might want to do to our deck.  I also managed to get sandwich dough made in the morning (we were totally out).  The contractor left around 10:30 and I proceeded to get set up for my hand kneading bread class, which ran from NOON until 3.  I got my sandwich bread baked just before the students got there….so they all had a piece  :~).  

we gave 1/2 a loaf to Gale & Phil

How could I NOT give them some when the house smelled like heaven when they got there!  I told them that was one of the best things about making your own bread….you get that incredible smell that just makes everyone smile.  It was a really fun group and I had a good time (as I think they did):  

Patti & her mom Helen

Joan & Donna

Flora

Flora, Patti, Helen, Joan, Donna

I was totally pooped after that, so after cleaning up the kitchen, I sat down, read my book for a bit and took a fabulous 1/2 hour nap!  My honey woke me up to ask if I wanted him to hit up ARBY’s for some fish sandwiches and I said an enthusiastic YES!!  I started to perk up over dinner and definitely got a second wind afterwards.  I got my 3 latest embroideries all cleaned up, 

and knit a bunch of rows on the sweater sleeves while watching TV.

I was up early Thursday morning (1/26) to get my checkbook balanced before heading out to quilting.  I have been waiting for the summation from the bank for over a week.  I thought it came in around the 15^th of the month….I swear this one is late just because I have been anxiously waiting for it.  I am between registers and was hoping that this statement would finish out the old register and I could just keep the new one in my purse.  After that I headed off to quilting.  It was block of the month day and there were quite a few people working on their blocks.  I really liked this first star block, so I made several of them.  The pattern also showed a neat layout for a quilt made with this block and one other and I think I might try to make it up.  We sewed until 2 PM, then 5 – 6 of us sat around and talked for about an hour.  I hit the library on the way home, then visited with Jan for about an hour….I finally got home around 4:30!!!  I read my new book until dinner, then Michael and I both read until 9 PM when we watched a bit of TV and headed to bed.

new Clinton embroideries, Elsie & Cookie

My honey left for a golf tournament here at SCCL on Wednesday (1/25) while I was SKYPING (and yes…it actually worked :~) with Janice.  I headed upstairs after 10 AM to have a bit of breakfast, then it was back to my studio.  I finished off the third embroidery from yesterday:  

When I have time I’m doing embroideries for new Clinton quilts….I’m slowly working my way through a series of designs I bought awhile ago called CUTE SEA LIFE.  When I have 10 different embroideries, I’ll start putting the quilts together.  At this point I think I’m 1/2 way along.  I started new embroideries while also working on stitching out my BOM blocks.  The block of the month has a lot of snowball type sewing…..take a square (or rectangle) put another square overlapping the corner of it, sew new square diagonally and trim off.  This seems like such a waste to me, so I drew 2 lines 1/2  an inch apart on the top square:

and sewed on both of the lines: 

Then cut between the 2 lines.  That gave me the snowball type edge:  

plus a bunch of little 1/2 square triangles that I will use in something else:  

It was a lovely and peaceful day, exactly what I needed and I had company for most of it:  

And even though my honey came home 2 hours early (he tee’d off at 11 AM, the rounds on Wednesday’s are always deadly slow AND they were feeding them dinner….so I expected him around 6 PM and he got home at 4 PM), he left me alone until 6 :~).  I finished up what I was doing and headed upstairs for dinner, then TV watching.  I’m still knitting on my sweater, but I’m on the second sleeve now.