I love hiking the trails here at Big Canoe! We walked my favorite one today to the lower falls. No photo of the falls because there was a crowd of people in front of them. Most people walk up the Jeep trail to the falls because it’s wider and easier which is fine with me because we pretty much had the other trails all to ourselves.
Now I’m going to sew a few masks and then it’s time for Sangria and I’ll be fixing one of Keith’s favorite dinners tonight – the Greek rice bowl in the Instant Pot.
It was an uneventful day around here – I sewed some more masks including ones for Caleb and Rae who are going to visit us for a couple days next week. We have plans to do some hiking and go to the lake if the weather allows and while we don’t expect to be in any crowds, they might need masks when we first arrive at the lake and at the park until we get set up off by ourselves.
I fixed a Waldorf Chicken Salad for the first time for dinner tonight that got Keith’s approval and then we went down by the lake for a bit.
I’d seen one bench from the road by the lake but didn’t realize they had a whole park like area with several benches, some picnic tables, and a grassy area. We didn’t stay until sunset but it’s very close to the house so I can see it being a place we go back to often. This is the same lake I kayak on.
I’m trying a new style of masks. My sister drafted a pattern and one of her friends created a plastic template for it. I bought it a couple months ago but the pleated ones are so easy I’ve kept making those. Keith has a problem with the ties and Chris wanted to try the other style so I made two today. The ties on these are just one inch strips cut from t-shirts and when you stretch them, they curl and work perfectly. You loop the tie through the sides and it just has to tie at the neck. I’m not sure how many more of these I’ll make but I’ll make a few and if Chris likes them, I’ll probably make another batch for him.
We did some shopping today (socially distancing and wearing our masks of course). Some things to personalize our space. Keith liked this bear and he was holding a sign that said welcome but I found one I liked better and now he’s greeting guests at our front door!
We also found a wine cabinet. The wine bottles have been taking up too much of my kitchen counter space so it’s nice to have them in their own place!
And when we stopped by the post office to pick up our mail, these two small deer ran across the road in front of us and went straight to Momma and started nursing.
My precut July quilt is assembled – that was quick!
I gave you all the wrong information on this quilt. First, I called it the Stop and Go quilt … that is incorrect – it’s called Walk and Stop. Second, I said I bought the kits from Craftsy but they were both bought from Connecting Threads. Mom pieced the batik one I showed yesterday and now the black and bright top is done too. I did exchange the solid black in the kit for a print from stash. I feel like a solid black picks up and shows lint really bad so I rarely if ever use it for a background.
The kits are no longer available at Connecting Threads and it’s been several years since I bought the two I got but I will definitely be using this pattern again – just 2 yards of a background fabric (2.5 yards if you’re going to bind it in the background fabric) and scraps or fat quarters from stash and it makes a quick and easy quilt. Mine will go back to Florida for quilting and eventually be donated.
EDIT: the name of the quilt is Walk and Stop (I remembered it wrong as Stop and GO) and I bought both kits from Connecting Threads not Craftsy but it’s no longer available.
https://www.connectingthreads.com/walk-stop-quilt-kit/p/90839
This is another version of the Stop and Go quilt. It was also a kit that I bought from Craftsy and I gave it to Mom to make and then quilted it for her. My intention has always been to use this pattern for stash quilts too. I just haven’t gotten around to it but seeing how fast it’s going, I might have to move a stash version up my list.
Stephanie pulled kits for our July Precut Challenge. It can be a kit you bought or one you put together yourself …. we all have those don’t we? That group of fabric that you pulled intending to make a particular quilt. Maybe you even cut it out already.
After a lot of waffling, I decided to do a Craftsy kit called Stop and Go. Blocks are big so it’s going to go quickly. And since I don’t like using solid black because it picks up and shows so much lint, I substituted another black fabric from my stash.
I’ve been searching for my mail and packages for a couple weeks … I’ve forwarded my mail from Tampa but it had been misplaced by the post office here. I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to get it resolved and was able to pick it all up at the post office today. A small package from Sarah was in the batch that got forwarded, along with a nice note thinking me for my participation in the Hands2Help project this year.
Finally! Adam’s T-shirt top is assembled and it will go back to Tampa for quilting. So glad to have this top finally done. No pattern although I did look on Pinterest for inspiration on uneven block layouts. I drafted it in my TouchDraw app which helped me make sure that the sashing strips were offset and that each row came out to the same size! The finished top is about 70 x 92. Sashing strips are cut 2.5 inches.
This is why I take photos at different stages! Somehow that top block got sewn upside down but luckily I found it before I sewed the vertical sashing on. I’ll fix it tomorrow and maybe I’ll even finish assembling this one.
We went for a short hike after I stopped sewing for the day and when we came back, there was a deer standing in the back yard by the driveway … it ran off but didn’t go too far before I snapped a photo … there were no deer on the trails but they seem to like our backyard.
I mentioned we camped as a family for years when I was growing up. Other than visits to North Carolina or Philadelphia to see family, camping trips were the only vacations I remember.
Lesley wondered what Chris’ camper looked like on the outside So I had him send me a couple photos. It’s a pop up camper so easy to store and tow. Rae went with him to pick it up yesterday and I think she is as excited about it as Chris is!
