November Stitch Along Update

 There hasn't been much progress on Three Boats lately. I have been cross-stitching a Christmas stocking for my younger granddaughter and that has been my focus when I feel like cross-stitching. You can see my progress on that project and others here. I want to finish the stocking for Christmas.

So, three weeks ago, Three Boats looked like this:

I have filled in a few stitches during the two times I worked on it in the last 3 weeks. When I picked it up on Friday, it took a while for me to figure out where I was with the color floss that I was working with. Thank goodness for the grid that I put in. I'm not sure I would have ever found my place.  I took a closer photo in the hope that you could see the variety of colors better. 

There are black, grey, green, brown and blue in those stitches.

This Stitch Along is hosted every three weeks by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea who kindly sends us the needed posting reminders.

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to visit the other bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along. There is a wide variety of stitching projects. These talented stitchers are from all over the world, so please allow for the time differences and check back for each post.  

Avis, Claire, Kathy, Margaret,

 Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by!

Concentration and determination

So this week I needed to concentrate on getting things done. We will be visiting my daughter and her family soon and that polar bear hat needs to come with us. I’m happy to say it is now done! 

Finishing the nose/muzzle and adding the eyes just took a few minutes one afternoon. 

Now it is time to really concentrate on my granddaughter’s stocking. I am determined to have it completed by Christmas. I’m happy with the latest design of the little girl’s hair. I’ve almost completed stitching it on the stocking.You can see from the pattern how it will look.

 This photo was take a few days ago.There is a lot more of the hair and tree completed now. 

The baby blanket had to be paused while I looked for more of the Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn in white. Hubby and I made a trip to Michael’s, but couldn’t find it. I came home and put in an order for it that I picked up at the same store the next day. It must have been in the store room as most of the yarn on display was Joann's Loops and Threads.

There are 12 of 17 rows completed with the 13the ready to be attached. 

I have marked the rust colored block for quilting. I first had to unpick and resew part of one edge. It was very wonky and didn't look like the edge of a ball at all. It still isn't perfect, but it is so much better now.

There is another new project in the works. This will probably be another donation hat, but I could use one for myself also. Again, I am using yarn that I have had on hand. I think the darker blue was used to make an afghan in the 1980s or 90s. 

I tried my hand at drying orange slices in the oven. I’ve always wanted to do this but never have. I had purchased a bag of oranges that just weren't that tasty so this was their fate. I want to make some more so that I can string a pretty garland for the holidays with some cinnamon sticks that I have. 

I am joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch today and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching tomorrow. I hope you take some time to relax with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

November thoughts and crafting

I’m not starting any new crafts right now, but I did decide that the pillow in the header is finished. This was another of those  small printed panels that I received from a friend’s mom. I made it into a pillow and I was considering adding a braided yarn border, but I am happy with how it looks as it is, so I’m declaring this finished. 

There has been some progress on my granddaughter’s stocking. There are more stitches on the wall next to the little girl and the tree is still growing. You can also see the latest hair sample. 

It is better than the last one though I have ideas for a few tweaks. Thank you to Kim from Sarah Lizzies who steered me to some Pinterest ideas. 

The blue block has been quilted. 

I will move on to the marroon one above it next.

The polar bear hat has ears and a muzzle all crocheted. All that is left is assembly.

 Why is it that I delay assembling some crafts? I’m usually surprised at how easy the final assembly is. 

The baby blanket has 11 of the 17 rows completed. No photo this week.

Does anyone make meatballs like this? 

I spread the meatball mixture out into a rectangle on a plastic cutting board and then cut it into the desired number of meatballs. Then I roll each one. I saw this method years ago in a cook book and I have made my meatballs this way ever since. It helps to keep them uniform in size. This is the final result

These were Swedish Meatballs from the recipe below. 

You can see that it has been made often by the stains on the page. The recipe comes from a PTA cookbook. I got 45 small meatballs this time which easily makes 4 meals for the two of us. I froze half of the meatballs without the gravy. We ate one quarter and the rest went to my mother in law with the rest of the gravy that I made. There is plenty of gravy for all of the meatballs, but it doesn't get loose again once it is frozen, so it is just as easy to make new when I take out a package of the frozen meatballs.

There were elections in some states here this week. I’m feeling a little more hopeful for our democracy than I did before. 

I’m starting to plan out our Thanksgiving dinner. It will just be Hubby, me and my mother in law. I think I will make a turkey breast for the first time…if I can find one. Any links to tasty recipes would be appreciated. We will be celebrating with our daughter and her in-laws prior to the actual holiday. Our son invited us also, but I need to avoid the long plane ride right now. They will be coming to visit us around Christmas. 

I am joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch today and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching tomorrow. I hope you take some time to relax with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Counting

 1 row added to the granny square baby blanket….well almost. I was in the middle of slip stitching it on when I was interrupted by a phone call. It will be finished by the time this post is published.

2 blocks quilted on Having a Ball. 

I have to rinse out the blue ink. 26 of 36 blocks have been quilted now. I will be moving on to the blue block next to the yellow. 

3 tasty Indian Pudding Muffins. 

I ate one of the muffins. They are delicious. The rest of the dozen went to my mother in law.  As you can tell, I couldn't stay away from baking very long. At least I gave most of them away and froze the rest. This is another one of my long ago clipped recipes that I am working my way through. There was a magazine article years ago with a muffin type from every state. 

The article gave basic muffin recipes like the Corn Muffins and then variations that use the basics like the Indian Pudding Muffins. I had made the original recipe years ago, but just tried this variation.

 I also tried a delicious Old-fashioned Chicken Potpie recipe from a 2006 Taste of Home magazine. I would add a link, but it doesn't seem to match any of the recipes currently on the Taste of Home website.

The ribbing has been added to the hat. I watched the tutorial that was given in the original post and it was easy to follow. The pink yarn was in my stash. 

I just have to make the ears and snout and embroider the eyes for the polar bear hat. 

There has been a whole lot of counting on my granddaughter’s stocking. I have added the little girl's face and more of the Christmas tree.

I included in the photo the piece I am stitching as a hair sample. I’m not totally in love with it, but I want to finish the sample completely before I decide how to adjust it. Any suggestions would be welcome. I am trying to make the hair appear to be a short dark brown/ black bob that is seen from behind. 

I am joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch today and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching tomorrow. I hope you take some time to relax with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

The second October stitch along update

 Three weeks have passed by quickly. How can we be near the end of October already? This is how Three Boats On a Tropical Beach by Artecy looked at the last update. I had just started working on the third of six columns.

 

I’m still only stitching dark colors right now. There are a lot of them for sure. Below you can see more of the palm tree filling in. 

This Stitch Along is hosted every three weeks by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea who kindly sends us the needed posting reminders. Christina is taking a break from the Stitch Along for now. Hopefully she will return in the future.

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to visit the other bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along. There is a wide variety of stitching projects. These talented stitchers are from all over the world, so please allow for the time differences and check back for each post.  

Avis, Claire, Kathy, Margaret,

 Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, 

Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Thanks for stopping by!

What a show!

 Hubby and I went to dinner followed by a show Thursday night at a local theater. We saw “Come From Away”. 

Oh my goodness what a powerful show this is to see. We both left the theater feeling joyful, sad and uplifted. I highly recommend everyone seeing this musical if you can. 

Now to mundane subjects. The Christmas tree on my granddaughter’s stocking has some ornaments now. 

I’ve spent some time using my PCStitch program and I think I’ve figured out the little girl’s hair. I don’t know whether or not I want to do a sample stitch to see how it looks and tweak where necessary. Maybe. I am a floss miser even though it is fairly cheap. 

The block part of Having a Ball is now 2/3 quilted.

The granny square baby blanket has 7 of 17 rows completed. I like the way it looks. 

No baking was done this week. I need to concentrate on losing weight to help my back. The first epidural didn’t work. I have the second scheduled for Monday. 

I am joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch today and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching tomorrow. I hope you take some time to relax with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Home Alone

 Hubby had a work conference to attend in Lisbon, Portugal from Sunday to Wednesday, so I was home alone until I picked him up at the airport Wednesday afternoon. Of course we had a Nor’Easter storm here Sunday through Tuesday morning, so I mostly stayed inside. Thankfully the storm packed less of a punch than expected and there was no water in the basement or cleanup outside. 

Of course I took the opportunity to listen to my old records (I will date myself. I sang along to old Partridge Family albums), read, bake, make ice cream and craft. 

I baked some delicious Pumpkin Muffins and enjoyed them with a cup of tea. 

The recipe is from a small cookbook pamphlet from Miller’s Restaurant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We went there when my son was 18 months old. I have had that pamplet for 35 years! I posted the recipe in the photos below. 

Yes, I did use rum to soak the raisins. 

I also made Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate Ice Cream. It is my new favorite.

There were a lot of egg whites left over from my ice cream making, so I made Flourless Fudge Cookies. They are tasty and easy to make, but calorie heavy.

I’m glad I take photos of my crafts each week as it doesn’t feel like I’m making much progress on my granddaughter’s stocking. I am almost done with the current page, but the Christmas tree has so many color changes that is slow going. 

The green block on Having a Ball has been quilted and the pink is all set up to go. 

The donation hat is all done. I don’t like the pompom, but it will have to do.

There are 5 rows assembled on the baby blanket.

I’ve also started a gift for my older granddaughter. 

Here is the link to what it will be. 

I’m still reading The First Ladies. I can’t say that I am loving it now. It is more like reading the event diaries of Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune. There are a lot of historical facts that I am learning, but it is not as interesting an historical novel as I had hoped. Of course when you are dealing with two famous historical figures it must be difficult to fictionalize their interactions. I will finish this novel as the history is interesting, but I’m not sure I would recommend it. In reading this novel I discovered that there was a push by some lawmakers in the 1930s to make lynching illegal in the United States. That bill failed. Of course I had to find out when that despicable act actually was made illegal. I was extremely horrified to discover that it wasn’t until 2022 that President Biden signed the Emmet Till Antilynching Act. We wonder why the USA is where we are today with bigotry and racism when it took almost a century to outlaw a morally bereft practice. 

All in all, I think I made good use of my time home alone. It was a treat, but I am happy that Hubby is back home now. 

I am joining Frederique at the Quilting Patch today and Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching tomorrow. I hope you take some time to relax with some tea or coffee and pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

I think I spent my home alone time well.