Ta-da Again, Again

Well, it isn't exactly finished yet. I still have to trim the excess fabric off and put on the binding, but the hand-quilting is done.

There's plenty of fabric in the part to be trimmed off to make the binding. I will just have to determine which part will give me the width-of-fabric rather than the straight-of-grain direction, so the binding will have some flexibility. (The straight-of-grain won't stretch.) I don't know if I'll be able to get it done this week, but we'll see. It's almost a shame to put some machine stitches in this quilt, because it's all hand-stitching, but the binding is really best sewn on by machine and then stitched down on the other side by hand.

I managed to get a few rows of knitting done while at the doctor's and waiting for physical therapy. It's hard to tell what this is: The back shoulders of the Gentle Spirit Tee. It should move along faster, now that the hand-quilting on my whole-cloth quilt is done. It's just straight stockinette stitch for a while; boring, but great for watching TV, because I won't have to look at it while I work.

The smoke problem seems to have resolved for now, but it was either too hot or it was raining when we wanted to walk. We did manage to get in a few walks, usually just about a mile. The cheatgrass is starting to die down, and the short haircuts the dogs have now protects them somewhat from having the seeds jump out and latch on to them as they walk by, so we walked to the recreation center several times.

On Saturday we walked to the park, so the pups could play in the off-leash areas. There were a few dogs in the small dog yard.

They really enjoy socializing, and it's good to play with other dogs, even though they have each other to play with.

Dusty appreciates having some competition for the ball, because Sandy doesn't try. He's fast enough now that he could beat Dusty occasionally, but he spent his puppyhood not being able to get to the ball before Dusty, so he only goes after the ball if Dusty is somewhere else, of the ball goes into the kitchen, where Dusty doesn't like the floor. 

The choir has started up again, so we had practice Wednesday evening. A couple of new people have joined, and my friend who picks me up when she's in town also gave a ride to one of them. We had a lot of work to get ready for Sunday with one practice, but our new director (who was also our former director for a couple of years) sent us some practice tracks to simplify learning our parts. 

Exercises for my back problem has cut into my activities, but they seem to be helping.

For some cuteness, here's Johan, making meatballs. (Teach your boys to cook!)

I have a lot of difficulty responding to comments to my blog posts because of technical issues beyond my control (my lack of understanding of how things work). Message me on Facebook, Ravelry, BlueSky or Spoutible if you need information.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for More Classic Tales Retold or Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart". Every click on the page for the book makes it more likely they will keep a good supply in their warehouse and stores. If you are outside the US, you may have a separate website for these retailers. If you have a copy of any of our books, including Emil, Mariah, Classic Tales Retold, Our Favorite Verses or More Classic Tales Retold, please leave an honest review on the websites, especially if you bought from them.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Continuing with Gentle Spirit Tee.

What's on my iPhone: Back to Listening to The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles.

What's on my sewing machine: Binding for the whole-cloth quilt.

What's in my hoop: My whole cloth quilt. Still filling in the rest of the border.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: The Boys Cook Dinner is s story from our second book, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook. In this story, Jolena is away on a ski trip, and it's Billy's and Emil's turn to cook for the family. They have been trained by Jolena, and all goes well. Mostly.

What's my tip of the week: We often eat boiled eggs, but hard-boiled eggs usually need to be peeled. I dip them in a bowl of cold water, one at a time, and repeat until they are cold, letting the cold water run when needed to keep the water in the bowl.

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog, and they are reproduced in print with a few changes.

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. Poems included are Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The stories in Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

Coming in a few months: Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook.

If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to St. Jude. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. My author's page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as well, or ask your local library to order the books.

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.

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