Just Plain Stuffed (Plus a Quilting Update)

A few weeks ago I attended another quilt retreat at Homeplace Bed & Breakfast (SC). As always it was a lot of fun, food, laughter & a good time spent with friends. I made my first 'big girl' quilt.

It's a king size! I used some fabrics that were gifted to me & some I had gotten at garage sales over the years. I finished the top at the retreat then had one of the quilting ladies there, quilt it on her long arm machine. She did a beautiful job! It's 108" x 112" & there was NO WAY I was going to tackle this behemoth! The pattern is called "Broken Star", a variation of a Carpenter's Star.from a booklet published by Debbie Maddy of Calico Carriage Quilt Designs.

Close up of center star.

Once I finished w/this I decided to make a laptop quilt out of some vintage reproduction fabrics I had in my stash. Pic is sideways but you get the idea. It's called a ribbon box quilt, free pattern from Coud9 Fabrics. It is 56" x 62".

Since I got home I've finished up on my Christmas Table toppers that I will be using as a lining for baskets of goodies to give away this year.

While at the retreat my sewing machine wasn't working very well & I had neglected to take my Featherweight. My friend Debbie (the enabler) kindly loaned me one of hers to use. Otherwise, I would have been twiddling my thumbs the whole time.

Now I have to get my mid arm machine (another post entirely) set up so I can get all these projects quilted & bound before Christmas time rolls around.

On another note, I actually planted a few things in my garden beds here in the city. As usual it is proving that only about 3 or 4 hours of sunlight is NOT enough to produce prolific results.

String Beans & carrots in the pot.

Squash Zucchini, Cucumbers, more carrots & marigolds in front.

Onions taken over by weeds.

I had waited way to late to plant the onions & scallions so most just died. I still have a couple at the very back of the bed, we'll see if they hang on. Too darn hot for them.

The squash & zucchini have lots & lots of blooms but never product any fruit. No pollination happening & I'm not doing it by hand. One of our neighbors has gotten bees but their scouts haven't come down to visits. Sooooo, since they aren't making baby squash I decided to stuff some of the blossoms.

Cheese mixture in bag.

Decent sized blossom. Most were smaller than this.

Stuffed with cheese mixture.

All stuffed & ready to fry.

I picked & stuffed yesterday & as the last pic shows, I had a bit of cheese left over so I picked a few more this morning & finished up the cheese. Will fry them up tonight using a tempura type batter. We've had these before & they are delicious!

Well that all that been happening around here ... until next time.

p.s. I have been scrounging the Internet looking for this discontinued fabric.

It's called Anastasia by Robert Kaufman (orange, black & gold colors). If you have some in your stash or see any for sale, please let me know. I'm more than willing to pay for it. 

A Mini Vacation!

We went to SC last weekend to visit our friends Debbie & Bob from Fox Trot Farms. They raise Dorper/Katahdin Sheep. They have also chickens, honey bees & goats as well as many dogs & cats. I have been to their place many times but this was a first for Greg.

We got there Friday afternoon & toured the farm then had a nice relaxing evening with a simple meal of delicious bean & pasta soup & crackers. Sat outside & talked for a while but made it an early evening.

Saturday, after the menfolk fed & watered the animals we had a late brunch of homemade biscuits & sausage gravy, delicious! We went to a consignment shop & then Debbie started preparing things for dinner.

There were about 15 people coming for chili (with all the fixins) & cornbread before heading over to the Homeplace Bed & Breakfast for an open house & to attend the Bethlehem Marketplace. It is a play that the family puts on every Christmas season. Their are 33 rooms in the mansion, 33 Christmas trees are put up & this year they have 33 grandchildren! They act out the play 3 times on Saturday night. You start by following Joseph & Mary trying to find a room & then finally wind up at the stable which is actually the family's very large beautiful barn complete with blacksmiths, vendors selling cloth & herbs, horses, cows, etc. All the family gets in on the act, playing the parts of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Angels, etc. An orator tells the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, to his execution, his resurrection & then of him coming back one day. The singing was beautiful & overall it was very well done. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

They then served refreshments in the banquet hall, which is where we hold our quilting retreats that I posted about back in March - 2015 Quilt Retreat.

Several people went back to Debbie & Bob's for some after dinner wine & drinks.With a very diverse group of people, the stories were all over the place but I can honestly tell you that we haven't laughed that hard in a while. We stayed up telling stores until after 11:00p, late for us!

Not one single picture was taken, just wasn't in the mood. Debbie & Bob are gracious hosts, food was delicious & we had a great time! Greg loved seeing how they have things set up & got some great ideas for when we finally/eventually/can't come quick enough, move to the Country!

Of course Debbie sent us home with biscuits, cornbread, chicken chili, red chili & various other gifts. Greg ate biscuits for lunch & the chili will be heated up Wednesday night as I am preparing for Thanksgiving in the Country.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday this week ... Happy Thanksgiving!

Note: Historically, I can't make biscuits for anything but after watching Debbie make them, I think I am going to try my hand at them this weekend. Mine usually turn out a lot like hockey pucks .... we'll see.