Visiting, Quilting, Planting, and Reading

Since returning home last Sunday from a week-long visit with friends in Texas, I obviously haven't sat at the computer to compose a blog post. Instead, I've had my head down, focusing on quilting and activities.

I'm not able to share my quilting project, as it's for the November 11 reveal of a challenge with Central Florida MQG. We've been asked to only offer hints on social media, so this is the back of my piece, made with Grunge.Walking foot quilting was done on my Bernina 440QE.

Occasionally I forget how good spiral quilting looks. If you've never tried it yourself, I highly recommend giving it a go. I wrote a tutorial about it here. 

If you picked up on the fact that I'm quilting on my Bernina 440, you know me well. I'm quilting on it because my "best machine," my Bernina 770QE is at the local Bernina dealer (Sharky's Vac 'n Sew) for it's first tune-up. I bought it 11 months ago and have used it almost daily. When I knew we'd be gone for a week, it seemed like a good time to take it in. I have specifically asked the tech to let me know how many hours the machine has run. I'll be sure to share that info. I should get my machine back next Monday as I've also registered to finally take my free Bernina lessons. Though I've sewn on Bernina sewing machines since 1976, the 770 has more bells and whistles than any previous models. Learning more can't hurt.  

While in Texas we saw our two grandsons, meeting at a bowling alley for the boy's first time bowling. Five-and-a half year-old Luke managed to roll a strike on his second roll, and that was without gutter bumpers! I wish I'd caught that on video.

We sure love these boys.

Austin, age 8; Luke, age 5; and Nana, age 60-something

Twenty-two hundred miles of car-riding time for me meant English paper piecing. I prepped and stitched these Bloom blocks and Cross Blocks for my Prudence quilt. I'm using my scraps and stash, and as much as possible, fussy-cutting. I am really pleased with that black and white stripe. It's by Cosmo.

Central Florida weather continues to be in the mid to upper 80s every day, but I noticed we're in for a slight cool-down (70s) by this weekend. That made yesterday good for fall-planting some perennials. I have aches today as proof of my hard work, along with several new bushes and trimmed-up leggy plants.

This is our new Firebush outside my sewing room bay window. At the base, the blooms starts as orange-red and fades to yellow at the tips. 

This is a second Princess plant that will have beautiful dark purple blooms.

This is a replacement Plumbago. Supposedly this is a hearty weed, but we managed to kill the previous one in this spot! Hopefully with the addition of some Black Cow manure, and extra attention, I'll be able to keep this one going.  

For those of you who have asked, health wise I'm doing fine. I've had all the testing I'm going to have (refusing another one that the gastroenterologist suggested), and I'm taking all the drugs (four) and supplements (five) ordered by my doctors. Admittedly, I'm now one of those old people with a big pill container tray! By next week I should know if my blood tests indicate that all is normal again. I'm feeling more like myself, though I believe that has more to do with time than anything else. We're nine weeks past Hogan's death (August 31), and I'm no longer crying every day. He is definitely missed - we especially noticed it when we traveled last week, having taken him on every road trip for the past ten years. At least I can talk about him without dissolving into tears.

I've finished another audiobook and have another recommendation for you! I can't believe how many great books I've read in the past several month, but here's another: "Educated" by Tara Westover.

This story begins when Tara is only eight years old, being raised in the Idaho mountains by a survivalist couple. She keeps a journal about her hard life as the youngest of seven children, growing up uneducated, helping her mother mix herbs and tinctures, doing dangerous work in her father's junk yard, and dealing with a threatening brother. I was amazed at her father's radical opinions about education, government, and the medical community. Through a long, challenging process, she turned her life around. Duh me... I didn't realize until I'd finished the book that this is the author's own story! It's based on the journals she kept. After I finished the book, I found a YouTube video interview with her. The reality of her life hit me hard, and I discovered a new-found appreciation for my education.

Linda's score: 4.9/5.0.

Linda