If I can wish for anything  today, it will be that the rain lets up at least a little bit.

Well, my friends, I'm here to tell you that wishes come true sometimes. I was out in the bright sunshine and nary a drop of rain. Even after being away from home for around four hours...no rain. Lucky me.

Before leaving home, I had plenty of time for slow-stitching. I was able to turn the first corner on the Beach Bums.

Also, I finished up the sixth of seven of these little stitcheries for the Girls' Getaway.

Just before leaving, I had time to hoop up the last one. Those pink flowers are stitched in a close buttonhole stitch, and so this one will probably take a couple of days.

From there I left for my eye exam, and then I had a couple of errands to run. When I got home, I was ready to spend some time in the sewing room. When I headed downstairs, I left these two looking as if they were settling in for naps. I wasn't expecting any kitty help.

The machine was still set up for "regular" sewing, and so I made the back for Ruth's Legacy. I really like this fabric. I used all of it on the back, but I expect to have some cut-off edges when it's all finished...if I live long enough to finish it.

About then, Miss Sadie showed up. She helped me keep the white scraps under control while I went back to work on the Mosaic piece.

It's more than halfway finished now. An alarm was set to remind me of the time because I needed to start dinner around 4:30 p.m. That gave me only about an hour to work, and I didn't quite finish the row I was working on. For today's effort, I'll finish that row and then do the next one. Here's your peek.

I've been giving this project some thought since I don't think the subject will pop out of the mosaic piecing. Some black thread outlining the design will probably make it work. Now that I've come up with a viable solution, I'm feeling better about this. I think it's going to be fine, even if it isn't exactly the way I envisioned it at the start.

So dinner was something new. I believe I'm on a sort of meatball kick right now. I think we've had meatballs at least three times in the recent past. These are Slow-Cooker Spicy Plum-Glazed Meatballs.

They were very tasty, and easy to do. The recipe suggested I'd end up with 24 one-inch meatballs. Mine are about the size of golf balls, and I ended up with 17. They're served over jasmine rice, and then I ladled some of the sauce over them. Gotta have the sauce, right? They were easy enough to make, and then loaded straight into the slow-cooker. The sauce was mixed up in a measuring cup and then poured over. Then, they cooked on high for an hour and a half. 

Mine were finished in about an hour and 15 minutes. Also, the recipe would have you strain the sauce and then return it to a skillet to be boiled and reduced to 1/3 cup. And when I poured mine into a skillet, I already had about 1/3 cup. It probably has to do with the shape and size of the slow-cooker. Mine is a large oval shape, and I think the sauce had already cooked down without needing to do anything more to it. We liked them, and this is easy enough to do in the RV. Any recipe that can be done in the RV gets bonus points in my kitchen.

Okay, and while I was waiting for the meatballs to cook, I started on the newest embroidery piece. 

It'll probably be finished no later than tomorrow, and then I'll need something new. So, on today's agenda, I'll trace out the design for my next short project...Snow Happens. Sadly, the ball of blue perle cotton I ordered for this project was supposedly delivered to our mailbox yesterday. Checking the mail...no floss. I really hate it when that happens.

I've put out a group email to our neighbors asking folks to check and see if it was delivered to them by mistake. So far, no one has fessed up. I can imagine blue embroidery floss is a valuable and popular item, and so someone might decide to hoard it and keep it for themselves. (Ya' think? 😕) One neighbor suggested it might turn up today or tomorrow. If it doesn't turn up in time for me to start my stitching, I'll drive into town for some and request a refund from the seller.

Okay, so I have one short housekeeping chore on today's agenda, and I'm going to bake some Gingerbread Biscotti. I gave Mike his choice of a new recipe for pumpkin and chocolate chip biscotti, and he chose the gingerbread. It's our favorite, so that's not surprising. And then, I'll just continue on with the rest of my hand and machine stitching. With leftovers for dinner, it should be a pretty easy-going day. 

Good morning, my friends. I'm writing fast today...although, not too fast. I have an eye exam this morning. I get my eye exams at an optometrist office located inside a Costco store. I'm not a fan of Costco, and the only time I set foot inside the store is for my annual eye exam. Fortunately, it's in a smaller town south of downtown Portland, and so it's an easy drive. I awakened to pouring rain this morning. We've received almost a full inch of rain in the past 24 hours. If I can wish for anything  today, it will be that the rain lets up at least a little bit.

After working with monofilament threads for the past week or so, it was good to get back to some regular cotton thread and easy sewing. Sadie was my helper cat yesterday. She awaited instructions...

With her help, I finished off another row. I considered continuing on, but one row is about all I'm good for. The piece will get easier after this, and so I might do more as I move to the right. For now, here's your peek.

Nothing about this piece is giving me any confidence it will end up looking like the photograph. As is often the case, the thread work at the end might save it. And if not...maybe it's going to be an abstract piece. I suppose I can let the quilt decide what it wants to be when it's finished.

That was her last gasp for helping. She was 'zhausted by then.

Purrhaps you could work more quietly.

Snzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

So, I was on my own sewing on the binding. I has a couple of scrap binding pieces left over from another quilt. And I had enough of that striped fabric to get around the Beach Bum ladies.

It was late in the day by then, and so that's as far as I got with it. It's downstairs awaiting binding clips, needle, and thread. I'm only hoping to have some time for sewing today. If I do, I'll get started on this. Also, I left the machine set up for regular sewing so that I can make the back for Ruth's Legacy. When that's done, I'll get back to the Mosaic piece...probably tomorrow.

And since I'm writing fast, I'm finishing fast too. I hope y'all have a good day planned for yourselves.

Good morning, my friends. It's been raining almost steady here for the past several days. During a lull in the downpour yesterday, I opened the door for the kitties and noticed all the leaves and pine needles littering our deck.

Here's how it looked yesterday.

Sad, isn't it? It's been a beautiful fall season, and we've enjoyed some decent weather well into the month of November. I'm afraid that's over now, and we'll settle into our web-footed period.

My morning was spent on this little stitchery. This is the fifth of seven for the Girls' Getaway quilt.

Heading downstairs, I didn't think I was going to get much kitty help in the sewing room. I left Sadie snuggled up in one of the quilts.

His Eminence (read that: "His Immenseness") was ensconced on his throne.

Knowing I'll be ready to move on to the "Short" part of my embroidery dance card soon, I asked Mr. Random to help me choose my next project. He selected this one from Bird Brain Designs called "Snow Happens."

I peeled off the residue from what looked like a price tag from the cover before taking that picture. It makes me think someone of you shared this pattern with me. And, I'm sorry, but I can't remember who it was. If it was you, then thank you. I'm happy to say I have all the fabrics I need for this. I did order a ball of medium navy blue perle cotton floss, however...just another good reason for checking in with Mr. Random. Sometimes I need some things before I can get started on something new. Turning the cover sideways, here's how it will look. It's a small winter table runner. It seems completely appropriate to be stitching it as we approach December.

Before I could sew a single stitch, the dynamic duo showed up. Smitty was appalled at the mess in the sewing room. I keep a pretty tidy sewing room most of the time, but when I'm working on an art quilt, anything goes.

He posted himself where he could judiciously enforce the No Peeking rule. It seems like this would be uncomfortable, don't you think?

Sadie positioned herself next to the catnip dish and waited for someone to do the right thing.

With their help, I made another row of squares for the Mosaic quilt. Here's your peek.

From there, I started dinner in the Dutch oven. Dutch oven dinners make the house smell so good. When that was in the oven and on its own, I went to work quilting the final Beach Bum lady and the drink beside her.

All that was left of the top-stitching was to stitch the palm fronds at the top.

From there, I switched the top thread from monofilament to an off-white cotton thread. I left monofilament in the bobbin, and then stitched the lines that demarcate the arms on three of the ladies. I'd already stitched over them with monofilament, but the off-white thread hides the pen marks.

That took just a couple of minutes. When it was finished, I switched to a white thread and used the design on the fabric as a guide for quilting clouds in the sky. When that was done, the quilting was finished. Hard to see anything here, I know. I was using a very small needle to avoid needle marks in the applique.

Here's how it looks from the back.

So I've been considering the sewing I'll be doing over the next couple of days. My domestic machine is set up for working on the Mosaic quilt, which means I have monofilament loaded there too, and a very small needle. If I'm to do any other sewing that is not a part of the Mosaic quilt, I'll need to rethread and change the needle. I'm of a mind to do the day's row of Mosaic squares...maybe two if I'm feeling energetic...and then set up the machine for regular sewing. The backing fabric for Ruth's Legacy arrived last week, and so I want to make a back for Ruth's quilt.

And then I want to sew the binding to the Beach Bum ladies. I can work on the hand-sewing as I move the Mosaic quilt along row by row. I've reached the longest rows of the project. The next two rows are nine squares each. After that, the rows will begin to get smaller, and I can think about sewing the squares together. And as long as I'm setting up the machine for "regular" sewing, I might start doing that today too.

So there's plenty on today's agenda, sewing and otherwise. I want to get in a walk on the treadmill, and I have one housekeeping chore on the calendar for today. We've moved to the best sewing weather of the year, and I'm settling into it. What's going on in your sewing room today?

Good morning, my friends. It rained here for most of the day yesterday. We've had a nice fall, and the leaves have stayed on the trees until the bitter end. After this most recent rain, I notice they're mostly gone now. I'm afraid we're heading into the period I refer to as the "Big Dark." Ordinarily, we'd be thinking about when to head south, but we're staying home this winter. With our trip to Alaska planned for the end of next May, we're going to brave the cold and wet weather this year.

It should have been a two-day job to finish off the fourth stitchery for Girls' Getaway, but I'm leaning on my slow stitching to quiet my mind right at the moment. The more slow-stitching, the better.

Here are the four I have so far. Eventually, they'll all be in the center of a pieced block...I think...I could be wrong about that. At least some of them will be at the center of a pieced block.

I took a walk on the treadmill after that, and then went to work on my "Mosaic" piece. It's hard to tell if it's actually working yet, but I'm starting to recognize the design. It helps to know what photograph I'm using, and so I'm not sure if someone else could pick it out. Here's your peek:

If you're guessing a fried egg (annoying buzzer sound), then no. Good guess, though.

For now, I'm leaving all the little squares separate. If I were to start stitching them together, I'd need to change both thread and needle, and that all sounds like too much trouble right at the moment. I may change my mind down the road. I've been working on it one row at a time. If I keep up that pace, it should be ready for binding by the end of next week.

From there, I spent a little time quilting the Beach Bum ladies. There was just about an hour left in my sewing day, and so I was able to finish two more of the ladies.

There's just one more lady on the right to finish off. From there, I'll stitch the palm branches at the top. And then, just the clouds in the sky. There isn't a lot left to do. I doubt I'll finish it today, but maybe by tomorrow. Here's how it's looking from the back.

For today's sewing, I'll just keep on keeping on with these two projects. There's not much on today's agenda. I'll want to get in a Bow-flex workout. Later this afternoon, I'll start something in my Dutch oven for dinner. That will cut into my afternoon sewing, but food from the Dutch oven tastes especially good on a rainy day.

We're nearing the middle of the month already. Are you thinking about Christmas yet? We gave up exchanging gifts some years back, and it certainly takes the stress out of the season. Mike and I don't even put up a tree any more, settling instead for a small table top tree or else a poinsettia. I have lots of Christmas quilts around, and so it's still festive. Decorating takes about ten minutes. Undecorating takes even less time. But it's too soon to talk about that, isn't it? Right now, we're focused on Thanksgiving. Erik and Mae are doing the cooking this year. My contribution will be sweet potatoes (Erik's favorite) and cranberries. I make some from fresh cranberries, but the jellied kind from the can also have a place of honor on our table. 

Okay, so off I go. Enough talk about the holidays. Let's get back to our sewing, shall we?

Good morning, my friends. Happy Monday to you! It's going to be a good sewing day here. Yesterday's sewing efforts went so much more smoothly than the day before. It's amazing how much easier things are when you do them the right way. Have you noticed that?

My day started with slow-stitching, as always. I took the first stitches on the fourth design for the Girls' Getaway quilt.

Originally, I thought I'd finish them all first so that I could see if any particular square stood out too much. Now that I've switched to a more neutral color, that seems less important. I might decide to sew them together row by row. I'm still mulling it over.

There was still plenty of time in the day, and so I did the lady to her right as well. This is turning out to be pretty easy. When I've done this kind of quilting in the past, I've jumped around from piece to piece, leaving lots of jump threads to deal with at the end. These ladies make it easier to travel a short distance and then start at a new spot. I'm not using many jump threads, and I'm not having to cut thread very often either.

I'm just hopeful I have enough thread on my bobbin to finish this off without the need to wind another. So far the hardest part of working with this monofilament thread (for me) has been winding the bobbin. Here's how it's looking from the back. I've intentionally left the image dark so the stitching shows up a little better. 

And then I left it needle down on the middle lady's flip flops. 

There's not much on today's agenda, and we have leftovers for dinner. With it raining outside, it's looking like a mostly sewing day. I'll try to get another row of squares done on the Mosaic quilt, and I might even be able to finish off the quilting on the beach bum ladies. I've been keeping a splint on my left wrist, and my wrist is feeling fine. Possibly I've found a solution to the tendonitis problem.