This and That

While watching the World Series, I've been continuing to knit the washcloths for the troops in Africa for holiday presents. 

I think this will have to be the last one, because I will have to send them off soon. Here are the two I finished this week. One in "Warm Brown." (The yarn is Sugar 'n Cream.)

The other one was Knit Picks Dishie in "Lilac Mist." 

The current one is  Sugar 'n Cream again in "Mod Blue." It's really much lighter than the "Teal" in the first one I made, but the first photo makes them look similar. When this one is finished, I'll wash them and get them ready to send off.

If you know someone in the military stationed overseas or in a Veterans' Hospital, or if you would like to do something to help our troops and veterans, contact Homefront Hugs to see how they can help or how you can help them.

Not too much other crafting happened this week. This week's story is scheduled. We're introducing a new character: Brownie the horse. It will be out Friday.

I spent some time getting my orthotics, which may solve my foot problem. (Fingers crossed.) Then, on Saturday, we closed on the refinance of our house, which we are doing to lower our interest rate and to finish the repairs and improvements. We had some good news: the appraisal was enough more than we paid for the house that our new interest rate went down another .25%.

In the meantime, Daphne and Zachary have been performing with Ballet La Crosse in their production of "Cinderella." They get to be grapevines.

It's good experience for children to perform onstage in front of a live (paying) audience.

We're getting exercise, too, but not by performing. We're still putting in about two miles a day on the trails. It's getting a bit cold, though, so I don't know how much longer we'll be able to keep doing that.

What's on my needles: Still washcloths for Africa. This will have to be the last one, because I need to mail them off.

What's on my sewing machine: Still winter jackets for the "boys."

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Another week with no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Talents. Emil finds out that there is always something you can do well, even if you have a disability.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: I just started listening to Blowout by Rachel Maddow. There hasn't been much time to listen this week because of baseball, but so far, it's like listening to a novel.

What's in my wine glass: Terrain Vineyards California Red Blend 2016 again. We have had a couple of other wines recently, but this one seems to come up a lot.

What's my tip of the week: When using cooking spray, hold the pan you're spraying over the sink. If any of the spray goes astray, it will be easy to clean up while you wash dishes. 

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

High Fiber—Doing Dishes and Other Chores

My life is in pieces:

The Kaleidoscope Quilt is coming along. Here are four blocks on the design wall:

All of the centers are done, and half of the blocks are completely finished.

I started some dishcloths using Knit Picks Dishie. This project is easier to work on when I'm riding in the car for quick trips. The colors are, from left, Pomegranate, Azure, Mulberry. (Azure is also the one I'm currently knitting.) The pattern is Grandmother's Favorite, free on Ravelry.

For Joanie's birthday, I promised to finish piecing her Pine Tree Quilt top. I spent an afternoon at her house. Here's a photo of the layout she chose. The sashing is the fabric under the blocks, and the fabric to the right will be a 3" border. (For scale, the blocks will be 7" finished and the sashing 1" finished.) The fabric at the bottom is the backing.

I had to leave about 4:00 PM, so I'll have to have another session, but I have the top two rows of blocks sewn together and the rows sewn. The bottom two rows of blocks are sewn together, and the other two sashing rows are sew. The cornerstones will be the same fabric as the sashing, and Joanie plans to embroider wild grasses over the cornerstones.

Vintage Stitchers met on Thursday at Rebecca's. Brenda has been busy since we saw her last. She has finished several quilt tops. This is her machine-embroidered Halloween Quilt.

She pieced this top at a quilt retreat recently.

Brenda has had these fabrics for some time.

Here is another machine-embroidery project, this one using patterns from Bird Brain Designs.

Rebecca had finished this cross-stitch for her daughter.

Remember her Christmas quilt? She inherited most of the blocks from a friend who passed away a few years ago. She finished the quilt, adding her own special touches. Now it's done, and what a great tribute to her friend.

She has several quilts to piece for gifts, so she's making 1600 quilts. Here's the first one, ready to have quilted.

Janet had finished piecing this quilt top, which was part of a "Route 66" BOM. She will probably add borders.

As for life at home, the first real snow of the season has arrived. This was just the beginning.

Stay warm, everyone, and watch out for ice.

What's on my needles:  Hand-quilting the Delectable Pathways, knitting the Trickle Brick Socks and dishcloths.

What's on my Featherweight: Kaleidoscope Quilt. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Darken the Stars. Now listening to Georgette Heyer's Beauvallet. (I love her books. They're so full of humor, adventure and romance.) Still reading Three Silver Doves by Deborah Garn on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Glen Ellen's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 vintage. Nice and fruity.

What's my tip of the week: For hand-quilting, thread your needle before cutting it from the spool. Let that end be the short one, and your thread won't tangle. No thread treatment (such as beeswax) needed.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.