2 patriotic quilts totally finished, SHQ show & tell

Michael was in charge of the golf game on Thursday (6/29) so he had me choose 2 holes from the first nine and 2 holes from the second nine…and write them on pieces of paper (so that he couldn’t see) and seal them in an envelope.  Then he put the envelope into a hermetically sealed jar (remember that phrase from way, way back?) and took off just after 9 for golfing here at SCCL.  I headed out to quilting and finally got the labels done on my 2 patriotic quilts, so they are totally finished….YAY!  (That’s 6 patriotic quilts for this year so far….)  

As usual, we had a great time at quilting….with beautiful show and tell: 

Mary Anne

June

June's free motion quilting....fantastic!!!

Marge's convergence

a close up of her corner

I love the pattern in this quilt

Jerri - this is leftovers from the one above

Sue S

and after a stop at the library, I was home around 1 PM.  I headed downstairs to fire up Miss Scarlett and managed to finish the baby quilt before dinner.  While that was quilting, I continued to work on pillow covers for the deck…those are going to take me awhile.  We had the leftover chicken sausage dish with corn on the cob for dinner, and I spent over an hour after that filing paperwork before reading for the rest of the night.

diet pizza tutorial, AZ Mary quilt, Loree rolls

Well – the morning TOTALLY got away from me on Wednesday (6/28)!  I stayed up way too late on Tuesday night reading, then woke up at 6 AM on Wednesday.  Usually it is very hard for me to fall back asleep once I am awake, so I decided to grab a quilt (it was 60 degrees out) and head out to the porch to lie down and enjoy the scenery.  I dozed and woke and dozed and woke and thought about everything in the world.  Michael left at 8 AM to walk Cookie and the next time I looked at my watch it was 8:53….YIKES!!!  I jumped up and combed my hair and brushed my teeth and got dressed and made tea almost in time to SKYPE with Janice at 9 AM!!!  (I think it ended up being 9:03.)  We talked for 1-1/2 hours…it was heavenly….but that meant I was trying to write my blog and get it posted around 11 AM.  By then I was starving…so I headed upstairs in search of breakfast/lunch.  I made diet pizzas for lunch (and old, old WW recipe) and decided to do a tutorial.

First up, a piece of my homemade bread in a skillet (in the old WW recipe, you would toast the bread and then slice it down the middle into two very very thin slices of bread)

Then you put on a slice of cheese (I think the WW recipe used non-fat cheese....YUCK!!!!  In my opinion, all non-fat cheeses are a complete waste!) And then a couple of tablespoons of tomato soup directly out of the can, so still condensed (this is the only way I will eat tomato soup...I don't like it otherwise!), along with garlic powder and oregano (the WW recipe did have any seasoning...what a waste):

Then I put onions on the top (again, no onions in the WW recipe...what a shame):

Then you cook it much like you would a grilled cheese....until the bread is toasted, the cheese somwhat melted and the soup is hot:

Now....it tastes nothing at all like a regular pizza...but I love how it tastes and it makes a yummy lunch for me when deli American cheese is on sale :~).

I read my book while I ate, then had a nice phone call with Pat, then Michael came home and we talked for a bit, and I finally (FINALLY!!!) made it back downstairs to sew around 1 PM!!!  First up was finishing the binding and weaving in the ends on the second patriotic…then I set both of them aside to stitch down the labels at quilting on Thursday.  I got out some beautiful batik fabric and started to make pillow covers for the deck pillows.  At 4:30 I headed upstairs to make “strawcello” martinis.  This was one of the flavors Alice made for martini night (strawberry vodka, limoncello & pink lemonade) and it was so light and refreshing that I wanted to make up some.  Michael and I poured some glasses 

with frozen strawberries to keep it chilled

and headed out to the deck.  Unfortunately by then it was way too hot to stay out there, so we came inside to read.  Paula stopped by and agreed she wanted to try one as well.  

We finally had leftovers for dinner and I sewed for just a bit more after dinner before plopping on the couch with my honey to veg for a bit before bed.  I have pictures from 2 blog readers today....

Arizona Mary finished another quilt...it is stunning:

this pattern is absolutely beautiful!

And Loree made a pan of rolls that looks so gorgeous.....as Mary Jo says....I really wish I could reach through the screen and grab one:

She said they were the best yet!

tutorial on chicken sausage one pot dinner

Michael went out to breakfast with a group of golfing buddies on Tuesday morning (6/27), while I made tea and headed to my studio.  When he got home from breakfast out, he brought me some leftover hash browns….and made me a smurfy breakfast of an egg on top of the hash browns :~):

After eating I started working on the binding for the second patriotic quilt, and getting that on and getting a few rows on the baby quilt took up most of the day.  I am doing a beautiful feather pattern on the quilt which takes forever to stitch out….but I don’t care because it is gorgeous:  

I’m using a variegated thread in baby colors and I think it looks really nice.  I spent about an hour in the afternoon talking to Michael and putting a credit freeze on each of our accounts with the 3 credit bureaus.  Do you guys know about this???  Putting a credit freeze on your accounts means that if someone steals your identity, they will not be able to open any credit in your name (like new credit cards….new car loans….credit for appliances….nothing!)  And the best thing about it for my friends living in SC….everything is FREE if you live in SC (for other states it seemed to be in the $10 range).  Still, a very small price to pay in my opinion for some peace of mind.  It really was very easy to do on-line.  By the time I finished, it was almost 3 PM and I picked up Susan and headed off to our “lifestyle” meeting.  THAT was 2 hours long  :~( and I raced home to get dinner done in time for Michael to go to the movies…..with his help we made it in plenty of time.   I started olive oil heating in my ALL CLAD (I LOVE that thing...thanks Ginny!) skillet, then threw in diced onions and sliced mushrooms:

Then I threw in some of that fully cooked, flavored chicken sausage (that Paula’s husband Doug bought for me at SAM”S, which I still haven’t paid them for  :~):

Remember all of those tomatoes Michael picked several days ago?  Well, they went into our dinner:

Then it was several handfulls of spinach:

While I was doing all of that saute-ing, Michael was cooking the pasta in our FASTA PASTA in the microwave....we were both done about the same time and he drained the pasta and poured it in:

A little stirring...a little serving...a little Parmesan cheese on top and voila:

A very yummy and veggie laden dinner!  Michael left at 6:30 to pick up Larry and head to the movies.  They saw THE BOOK OF HENRY which Michael said was sad and funny and tense and well acted; he really felt the movie had everything!  I spent the evening downstairs, working on the binding for the second patriotic quilt, and when Michael came home at 10 PM, we poured a couple of drinks and sat out on the deck for about an hour….heaven!

basting quilts, Martini Night

My honey left for golfing at Ballentyne before 7 AM on Monday!!!  And after getting all of the dishes loaded from Sunday night and starting the dishwasher, I headed to the grocery store.  I was home before 9 AM and made some tea and headed downstairs.  I got the baby quilt basted, then loaded up another Clinton quilt for basting:  

leaving just about an inch between old and new

I also spent over an hour SKYPing with Mary Jo…that was terrific!!!  By the time I finished talking and basting:

it was 1 PM and I decided to go out to the deck and read...that really was heavenly....I can't believe how much I love our new enclosed porch...that feeling is a continuing source of surprise to me!!!  My honey came home around 2:30 with an 82 and TWO birdies….so he was very happy :~).  We both stayed out there for several hours but finally headed inside and downstairs…Michael to his computer and me to my sewing machine.  I finished the binding on the first patriotic quilt just before it was time to hop in the shower and leave for Martini Club!  Now I just have to get the label sewn down and it will be totally done.  I’ve been trying to make a chicken sausage dinner since Saturday….but again, it was not to be.  There’s always lots of food at Martini Club and Michael had a big lunch and just wanted yoghurt and a banana….so stay tuned…..I’m definitely making it Tuesday night!!!  I left just before 7 PM for Alice's house and had a wonderful time!  Alice had lots of good food:  

crab salad on cucumbers

pesto/tortellini salad

and yummy BBQ meatballs I didn't get a picture of  :~(   and the company was great.  We played a fun game called “say what you see” 

Kathi, Barb, Alice with Pat in the back

Donnis, Ellie, Bonnie

and my team was winning until the last lightening round when the other team caught on FIRE and ripped through a bunch of cards.  I was home shortly after 10 PM and joined my honey on the porch for about an hour until bed.

the princess, BG & Steven, deck party

The princess was on her perch again Sunday morning (6/25) when Michael and I got up:  

Michael and I spent most of the morning in the garden, getting Gerber Daisies planted 

along with a variety of seeds…

note beautiful new pots!

and further tying up our tomato plants:  

I was mixing up bread dough when I got a call that had me running out of the house to this:

Steven & BG

BG and Steven are driving to Arkansas by way of Georgia (to drop off a granddaughter) and we decided to meet for 1/2 an hour at a local gas station.  She brought me Russian Dark Rye from Connecticut!!!!!!!!  Pictures tomorrow....this bread is absolutely HEAVENLY!!!!!!!!!  When I got home, I baked our bread (which suddenly seemed 'meh'  :~)

and also made a pan of mint brownies.  We ran the extra 1/2 a loaf over to Pat & George (George is home, but still recovering from hip replacement) and finally at 2 PM I got in a little sewing  :~).  Actually, before I decided to continue with my bindings, I made a start on loading up 2 more quilts.  I got another double length of backing loaded up on Miss Scarlett, got my batting cut and got the first quilt laid on: 

before it was time to head upstairs again.  We set everything up on the back deck 

notice tiny tennis balls so table legs don't go in the cracks!

and I made a blueberry cake that came out of the oven as people were arriving (so of course the house smelled FABULOUS...always one of my requirements  :~).  We had another deck party and it was really a lot of fun  :~).  

Dennis & Sue

Ken & Ginny, Phil & Gale

Harold & Joann

Phil & Patti

Candyce, Jorie & John, Ralph

Everyone seemed to like the food (the blueberries really went!  Ahead of the chocolate) 

and there was lots and lots of talking going on.  Several people also wanted to view the long arm and a bunch of my quilts, so we did a mini-tour!  By the time everyone left, we were pooped.  Michael put away the chairs and I put away the food, and I told him I wold easily take care of everything else Monday morning.  He headed to bed and I stayed up (but just until 11 PM this time:~) and finished my book.  I’ve been reading the “Turing Hopper” series by Donna Andrews and just finished the 4^th one.  They were EXCELLENT books with a totally unique premise and I have really enjoyed them.  The only bad news is that she only wrote 4 and I have now finished all of them  :~(.  I’ve gotten Pat W started reading them too and she likes them as well…I would highly recommend them.