Another Quilter in the Making

 The girls were here this week-end. We were working on Christmas gifts, since the time is fast approaching. I was in the basement helping Ari sew when Missy Maja decided that she wanted to sew, too. I was pleasantly surprised. I got her started right away on a practice strip. After all, I only have a million scraps of fabric sitting around. Then she picked a few pieces out of my scrap bin to start a little patch work. Now I have to get a few more pieces cut before she comes over again. As usual Grandma was busy running back and forth trying to keep both girls going on their different projects, which was hectic. But how cool to have another seamstress in the family!

I managed to get part of a pillow case sewn while Ari was pinning, and before Maja came downstairs. We have so many left-overs in the fridge that I will not have to cook tomorrow, so I should be able to get back to it tonight or tomorrow afternoon. 

I have been reading Outlaws of Ravenhurst from my homeschool book collection. It is a refreshing read. I would call it an adventure story of faith and martyrdom. It is set in the reign of the Stuarts of Scotland Henry VIII of England. It makes me pause to think of what I would do were I one of the last Catholics in a country where Catholicism was outlaw. That is really not such a far flung possibility in our country today. I can see the appeal of the story for young people who are willing to work their way through the Scottish dialect. Would that we all had the faith and reverence for Jesus in the Eucharist which the children in the novel portray. 

Ari, Maja and I hosted a tea party for the mothers and daughters in our neighborhood a couple of months ago. The girls did a wonderful job with our guests. Yesterday Ari asked when we would be having another one. I am glad that she wants to. It says to me that the first party meant something to her. We have started discussing possibilities.

Fall Garden Clean-up

 I was working outside this afternoon cutting back perennials. My nose was running, so as I usually do when outside, I went to the car to look for facial tissue. No such luck. But I did find our good full sized stapler. Grandchildren! I am sure they brought it along for a project during our twenty minute ride to mass last time they visited. Although I got distracted cutting things back and pulling weeds, my objective today is to finish planting daffodil bulbs. My sister gave me about a hundred bulbs from her flower beds. Many of them went in at St. John Cantius, but the rest will get planted here at home. I also took the geraniums out of their pots so that they can overwinter in the basement. Last but not least, I will take the clothes off of our scarecrows and wash them for next spring. Hopefully I can get all of that done before it starts raining. I have been comfortable working in shirt sleeves. 

A little perk to my clean-up has been seeing all of the new johnny jump-ups which are blooming away. I just love the purple and yellow flowers. I am also enjoying the rich green of the lamb's ears after I cut them back about a month ago. I am sure the fall rain helped them very much. And then there are the weeds which have grown since the rain. 

We are two weeks away from our mission group craft sale. I still have about six pillow cases cut and ready to sew. Besides that, a few more pieces in my fabric stash that I would also like to use for pillow cases, just to be done with them. I have the coordinating prints necessary, so it is simply a matter of getting down there and getting it done. It is so good to have much of my old fabric made into something useful and out of the way. I still have a number of projects in the finishing stages - an apron, a dress, a quilt top, and about three quilts ready for machine quilting. But it feels much more under control. I can't wait to get it all done so that I can dig into some more of the gorgeous new fabrics my sister Janice gave me.    

 

Cookies in a Jar

 I hope to have a little meet and greet  tea party for our girls and a few of the neighbor girls. I decided to look at an old booklet by Jackie Gannaway to see if there was anything special in there that I wanted to serve. That got me looking through a couple other booklets of hers that I have. Yesterday I tried the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Mix from her Cookies in a Jar (Cookbook Cupboard, Austin, TX, 1997). They were the worst cookies I have ever eaten. They looked perfect on the outside, but the recipe called for a combination of powdered sugar and brown sugar. The brown sugar was granular, and overpowering. The chocolate was from cocoa powder, which was fine, although I prefer the more chocolate flavor of chips, chunks or unsweetened chocolate bars. Neither my husband nor I could taste any peanut butter flavor. I scratched that recipe off of my list! It will be a penance to finish them, although we can use them for the caffeine.

I also took out my scrap totes last night to try my hand at crumb quilting. I discovered that my scrap totes are loaded with mostly larger pieces, nothing very crumb worthy. However, I did get about three 5.5" blocks finished. Very scrappy looking. I have lots of fabric strips, so I will probably make a few table runners. Then from those snippets I will have genuine crumbs. Of course, now I am in a quandary because all of my old scraps are washed. It almost forces me to keep pre-shrinking all of my fabrics.

Paul Bunyon Land

 Last week we took the girls to Brainerd for a little get-away. 

Our first stop after picking them up was Safari North, since we could not check into our hotel until after 4:00 PM. We saw lots of animals, including alligators. We enjoyed it, but I did not like having to pay for every extra - feeding the animals, riding the train, and using the amusement park. By the time we were done we had spent a considerable amount beyond the admission price. There were no hand stamps, so we could not come and go as we pleased. We were forced to eat there, and the menu was extremely limited. The girls had Uncrustables, hardly a hearty, filling meal. Our only other option would have been pizza.   

The next day we stopped at Paul Bunyon Land. We liked that much better. We had the place almost to ourselves. We were not sure if that was because of the weather, or because it was a week-day. The girls went on ride after ride without having to wait. Ari is an old hand at amusement park rides, but it was new to Maja. She was scared the first time she went on the Frog Hopper. We were surprised that they wanted to go on it a couple of times more. We really appreciated the man voicing Paul Bunyon. Arthur described him as a Santa Claus personality. I would say he was grandfatherly. Not only did he remember the girls' names as we went back and forth during the day, but he also sang a few songs for us. We were thrilled that the animals in the petting zoo came up to visit us without our even having food in our hands. They had to parade from one side of the enclosure to the other so that we could see them. Bella Rose the calf was especially sweet and gentle and ready to nuzzle. 

We stayed at the Holiday Inn because the water park was open, unlike at the Arrowwood. The girls had a blast in the water. The hotel had very few guests, so we also had quiet nights. That was a Godsend. The breakfasts were not so great. We had to eat bagged foods in our room because people are still afraid of COVID.  We had only one desk and chair for the four of us so it was not very comfortable. Mixing beds and food is disgusting. The girls had oranges the first morning. That was a sticky mess, with no paper towels or dish rags to clean things up afterwards. I felt bad for the housekeeping crew which had to empty garbage with all of the breakfast food waste in it. I just cannot believe that eating in our rooms was healthier than exposing ourselves to the possibility of contracting COVID in the breakfast room. 

On the way home we stopped at the Northland Arboretum. We did not spend much time there, but we did see some beautiful peonies and other spring bloomers. The Arboretum was suffering from drought as well as we are at our house. I was thrilled at the help the Arb staff gave me in looking up Ak-Sar-Ben (That's Nebraska spelled backwards.) Gardens, a place my family visited in the late 1960's during our stay at The Gingerbread Cabins on Serpent Lake near Crosby. It sounds like the gardens still exist, but as a private event venue. 

I gave in and spot watered a few of my perennials last night, just to keep them alive. I lost an echinacea on the side of the house already for lack of moisture. Also one in the Mary Garden at church. I thought echinacea were supposed to be drought hardy. The lilies look great in the heat. The asters, heliopsis and echinacea are the ones that get droopy with no rain. 

Rosary Making

I have been making rosaries from supplies purchased through Our Lady's Rosary Makers for years. Here is a little video on them published by Catholic News Report. Enjoy. 

We interrupt this program....

 I have been taking a pause in sewing quilt tops to make some of these cuties. This Easy Squeeze Gift Bag pattern is from Gruber's. I had some squares of fabric already cut which I thought would work perfectly for this bag. I also thought it would be a great pattern for my ten year old granddaughter to sew. I like them. Grandpa likes them, too. The small bags made from 12" squares will be perfect for wrapping soap, jars of jelly, gift cards, muffins, cookies or candles.

                                        

        

                     

On Another (Jelly) Roll

 

I'm on another quilting roll. Last night I finished this top made from a batik Bally Pop Pack which I had won at the St. Cloud Heritage Quilters Show from Just Sew Studios several years ago. It was a quick finish, and I like the colors. It will work in a few different rooms in my house. I have to admit that I did not do it completely randomly, as is typically done with a jelly roll. Some of the colors just begged to be put together, so when I did the end to end sewing, I coupled them. From here I will sew another top, and then do machine quilting all at one time. 

I finished reading Theology of Home by Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering (Tan Books, 2019). I purchased it for a few reasons. First, to see what all of the hype was about, since I have seen their blog and merchandise. Second, to see if it would be a suitable bridal shower gift. Third, to glean from it anything helpful in honing in on my personal mission. The book contains lots of photos of the authors' and others homes and children. My first response in looking at the cover was, this home is definitely not my taste. It was a mix of way too many different styles of furniture and and picture frames. I had similar reactions to many of the photos in the book. Too many white walls and cold interiors. Arthur agreed. But it did contain pictures of some very cute kids! I had hoped that it would be a good "bridge" book that might draw a new bride back into the faith, but I do not think it would work for that. There are many quotes from Scripture and from the saints, and many sacred images and statues that would probably turn off a person who was not going to church. As for my personal mission, I did find a quote from St. Thomas Aquinas on beauty which I will add to my notebook for meditation. 

At present I am reading Ryann Topping's Rebuilding a Catholic Culture: How the Catechism Can Shape Our Common Life (Sophia Institute Press, 2012). I found a line that expresses the present understanding of active participation in the liturgy to a tee: "Where the older Liturgical Movement had sought to increase the participation of the faithful by a deepened understanding of the prayer of he Mass, the more recent trend simply encouraged people to become busy...." Perfect.

Quilting

 I have been on a roll. I finished four aprons since the beginning of the year. From then on I have been quilting and quilting. Clarence received the completed quilt which I had started for him when he was about 3,4 or 5. He is now 14. The Pinky Pie quilt which had been intended for Ari and was a free motion quilting class project, is now also finished. Three or four years ago Sister Jessica had given me a suitcase full of quilt tops which she had gotten from someone else. I gave most of the tops to the St. Joseph's quilters in Waite Park, but had held three back to finish myself. Last night I started the binding on the first of those, and pressed the backing for the next one. I am planning ahead for the next projects after the last two tops are finished. At the same time I dug into the yarn bin and started an afghan from some cotton yarn which I had purchased for a blanket for Ari when she was a baby. As I knit I am also thinking ahead to the next afghan. It feels very good to be digging into my stash and using things up. It is energizing. It is also a great pleasure to see what I can do with my free motion skills. My free motion is by no means perfect, but I am getting lots of practice.

I put onions in my Super Bowl guacamole yesterday. Never again. Besides giving me dragon breath, the onions detract from the jalapeno, which I normally savor. Twenty years ago I would have never guessed that I would have a liking for guacamole and hummus. I now nutritionists frown on the fat content of avocados, but I look at guacamole as healthier than dips made from sour cream and mayonnaise, and as a way to get an extra serving of fruits and vegetables.

Now off to tea and breakfast.