day #2 of retreat, driveway BINGO, coffee cake

Current Corona Virus Deaths in the US - 105,611

                                            Yesterday - 104,581

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I got a bike ride in and my blog out on Saturday (5/30) before Paula showed up for day #2 of retreat:  

She continued to work on her QoV, while I continued to work on my quilt in the same pattern, but not before showing me the masks she has gone crazy making:  

(this is just a portion of what she's made)

She figured she’d made over 70 so far….and is not sure if there are more in her future  :~).  

She brought us a wonderful lunch: 

and of course, her mousse for dessert, and we continued to sew until probably around 3 PM.  By the time she left, she had finished all 35 of her blocks:

and I had finished 9 of mine.

I read for a bit when she left, and took a little nap before having a quick dinner and heading down to Paula’s driveway for driveway BINGO:  

What a fun evening….I really don’t like to play BINGO, but Paula read the numbers at a good clip and had fun/small prizes and everything was wonderful!!  When Michael and I got home, we watched the last 2 episodes of THE ROOKIE….what a cliff hanger….I certainly hope it comes back!

And here's a smurf-a-licious breakfast treat my friend Mary Jo made recently....apple coffee cake!

retreat this week day #1

Current Corona Virus Deaths in the US - 104,581

                                            Yesterday - 103,344

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Michael was up super early on Friday (5/29) for a 7:20 tee off time, while I headed out on a bike ride before 7 AM.  I got home and got my blog out and when I headed upstairs I saw this:

I can't believe she managed to not fall all the way off that chair while she was sleeping!!!

Paula arrived after 9 AM: 

and while she continued to work on her newest QoV: 

I started the same pattern with different fabrics:  

I thought I would NEVER figure out how to sew it together right….but Paula kept encouraging me with each strip and she was right….I think I’ve got it  :~).  We had furry company most of the time:

We went out on errands when we took a break for lunch, and finished up shortly after we got back.  I haven't like any of the chaffle recipes I've made....so I made up my own (I wanted to do it when Paula was there so that she could help taste test):

and she thought they were pretty good and wants the recipe when I get it finalized and typed up.

My customer came over in the late afternoon to pick up her quilt and she could not have been more receptive to what I had to say.  We talked about the fullness in her borders and I sent her a link to my friend’s article on how to do it properly, and what happens when you don’t.  She was VERY pleased with her quilt and pillow shams…which made me VERY happy!!!  

I read my book for awhile before a late dinner of leftover pizza.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Current Corona Virus Deaths in the US - 103,344

                                            Yesterday - 102,114

Wisconsin saw a record number of new coronavirus cases and deaths reported in a single day on Wednesday, two weeks after the state’s Supreme Court struck down its statewide stay-at-home order.  Read the full text 

here: https://www.aol.com/article/news/2020/05/28/wisconsin-reports-record-number-of-new-virus-cases-deaths/24458800/

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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!!!!  It was a significant anniversary for us….15 years!  It was also a scary anniversary for us because those 15 years went by literally in the blink of an eye!  We still feel so blessed to have found each other and so blessed at how well we agree on the important things in life.  Our life here in South Carolina is so much more than we could even have hoped for…..this pandemic is a little blip on the radar, but (in my opinion) nothing compared to what many people have been asked to sacrifice in previous times.  

We were up and out at 9 AM on Friday (5/28) for our eye appointments.  The doctor seemed pleased that our eye pressures were reasonable, although she thought the laser surgery Michael had last year (to help with the glaucoma), didn’t really have much of an affect.  We were finally home after stops at the chiro, liquor store and ALDI’s at 1 PM and after Michael and Cookie left for a walk, I left at 1:30 for my hair appointment (YAY!!)  I had a wonderful time talking to Lisa, who has moved to a new shop, but was very glad to be home by 4 PM.  Since it was our anniversary….of course we had champagne:

with frozen strawberries I  bought at ALDI just for this!
SO very much better than ice cubes to keep it cold.

and our favorite puffy things: 

for dinner.  Our puppy:

was just chillin' while we settled in to binge watch our show ‘AS TIME GOES BY’ for the rest of the evening.

You remember those men’s quilts I completed rather recently?  

Well, I found out an acquaintance has to have a kidney removed due to cancer and I thought he deserved some love in the form of a quilt.  It was delivered yesterday (yes, we mailed it with a little note) and we immediately got a call.  I think he was overwhelmed and said it was very beautiful and he was very grateful  :~).  And I believe I have a home for the second one…..my friend’s husband, who recently had a stroke.  He has moved to rehab and gained back some of his verbal ability.  Pam still has not been able to see him in person (how frustrating and frightening that must be), so I don’t know if the quilt can be delivered now, but surely once he is home I can take it over.

The man who would be king: Donald Trump has a very poor grasp of how democracy works…or rather he doesn’t want it to work the way it does…he wants absolute power to do whatever he wishes:

Threatening to shut down Twitter for flagging false content. Claiming he can “override" governors who dare to keep churches closed to congregants. Asserting the “absolute authority” to force states to reopen, even when local leaders say it's too soon.  As he battles the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump has been claiming extraordinarily sweeping powers that legal scholars say the president simply doesn't have. And he has repeatedly refusing to spell out the legal basis for those powers.

“It's not that the president does't have a remarkable amount of power to respond to a public health crisis. It’s that these are not the powers he has," said Stephen Vladeck, a University of Texas School of Law professor who specializes in constitutional and national security law.  First it was Trump's assertion that he could force governors to reopen their economies before they felt ready. “When somebody’s the president of the United States, the authority is total,” he claimed.

Trump soon dropped the threat, saying he would instead leave such decisions to the states. But he has revived the idea in recent days as he has tried to pressure governors to allow churches and other places of worship to hold in-person services, even where stay-at-home orders and other limits on large gatherings remain in effect.  Asked Tuesday what authority he had to enforce such a mandate, Trump was cagey.  “I can absolutely do it if I want to," he said. "We have many different ways where I can override them and if I have to, I’ll do that.”  

(You may read the full text of the article here: https://www.aol.com/article/news/2020/05/28/president-trump-continues-to-claim-broad-powers-he-doesnt-have/24453769/).

customer quilting and pillow shams finished, OCD strikes again

Current Corona Virus Deaths in the US - 102,114

                                             Yesterday - 100,825

Another spike......

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I got through my emails Wednesday morning (5/27) before SKYPE-ing with Janice for 1-1/2 hours……I am going to visit her NEXT WEEK……YAY!!!!!  She helped me out with one of my recent finds….remember these blocks:  

I want to put a large (3-1/2‘’ unfinished) sashing in, but she nixed the light blue I had in mind, and urged me to go darker.  I don’t have a really dark blue, so we settled on a black tone-on-tone.  THEN, she talked me into something I’ve never done……she talked me into making cornerstone sashing!!!  I’ve always been too lazy to do that….so for you non-quilters….stay tuned to eventually see what cornerstone sashing is  :~).  

After that I made breakfast and finally hit my computer after 11 AM to get my blog out.  My honey came home at 11:45…he managed to get in 4 holes before the rains came…..and got a birdie on one of them, leaving his new birdie streak at 3 games in a row  :~).  I spent the rest of the afternoon getting the 2 matching pillow shams quilted:  

And starting to get everything cleaned up and off of the frame….I didn’t have that all done by the time I headed upstairs at 7:30 PM…..to see a ‘boy and his dog:

So, why did I choose this recipe over the hundreds of others I have saved?  

Apparently I'm much more aware of my OCD tendencies than other people (which is a good thing!!!), as no one guessed it correctly.  Mary people guessed because it was chocolate and caramel....but I have bunches of recipes with those flavors!!  Look at those layers.....each one perfect....and achieved with crackers....something even I should be able to do.  And they cut so perfectly....OCD perfection  :~).

customer quilt finished

Current Corona Virus Deaths in the US - 100,825 

                                             Yesterday - 99,878

After declining, today is a spike, probably as states start to open up....Florida is a hot spot again.                    

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I headed out early Tuesday (5/26) for my bike ride, but had trouble seeing on the way home as it started ‘spitting’ and my glasses were covered!  Luckily I was pretty close to home by the time it started….so once I was home I took my KINDLE out to the lanair to dry off and read my emails.  Michael headed out to the putting green to practice some things from his lesson yesterday.  When I hit the studio I spent a long time with spray starch and a hair dryer, trying to get my customer’s borders to go from this:  

to this (suggestions from my FB group of langarmmers):  

It’s not perfect, but I do think it is better.  The right side was not as full as the left, so it definitely looks better.  There are 4 borders on this quilt and the outside one is 6 inches….trust me…it is WAY easier to quilt out a border that is a bit too small than it is to quilt a border that got bigger than the quilt with each round.  We still have people at Scrap Happy who refuse to believe there is any problem with the way they attach their borders….but I think it’s because they don’t quilt their larger quilts with borders themselves.  Loree has certainly seen some DOOZIES in her time quilting….she had one quilt several years ago that had 3 borders on it….she ended up shortening the outside border by 3 full inches (after the quilter ripped it off and Loree re-applied as it couldn’t possibly have been quilted without looking terrible, and/or taking tucks across the border)!!!  

Anyway, by dinnertime it was all stitched down with no puckers…..YAY!!!  

I just have to do the 2 pillow shams and it will be done.  Michael went out to a driveway dinner with 5 other guys (you know, they each brought their own dinners and drinks and spaced themselves out 6 feel apart on the driveway) after he got done with his haircut.  I just had some cheese and crackers for dinner and read my book.

Planting a dogwood tree in the front yard:

gas housers, my first chaffle, Salt River Bars, AJ

Current Corona Virus Deaths in the US - 99,878 

                                             Yesterday - 99,300

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Fresh bread….Michael’s breakfast on Monday (5/25):  

He was just sitting down to eat when I headed out on my bike.  It was very overcast and there was a 60% chance of thunderstorms, but I got home without a drop!  I had a bit to do in the kitchen before making my first chaffle and topping with jalapeno cheese and egg salad:  

I finally made it to my studio around NOON, and quilted until the storms moved in.  I got 8 rows done, only 5 left to do.  

Michael came home at 1 PM…..his new birdie streak of 3 games in a row is still alive!!!  He said the guy who ‘decorates’ the golf course had a really nice display for Memorial Day:  

I headed upstairs in the late afternoon to make cookies (a new recipe) for Michael to take to his ‘driveway’ dinner Tuesday night:  

Now, I swear....my hobby is not really baking…it is collecting recipes!  I have hundreds and hundreds of recipes that I will never make, but am still addicted to collecting new ones.  These are called ‘Salt River Bars’.  

What makes a person pick one recipe over another to try?  Do you think you know me well?  Here’s the picture from the recipe….if you know me as well as you think you do, you should be able to guess what made me try this one....I'm excited to hear what you think!!! 

We had leftover pizza for dinner and we settled in to knit and watch TV.  

And more cuteness:

Piggyback rides from mom and dad: