Saturday, September 12, 2020

Red September Sewing

Another week has flown by and all I have to show for it are a bunch of vegetables in the freezer (and in our tummies) and some quilt blocks. But it was really an interesting week. 

The hot Labor Day long weekend (during which we had some family and grandkids visits) gave ‘way to cold temperatures on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our temperature variation wasn’t as drastic as Colorado’s, but we did go from mid-nineties (F) down to the low forties within 24 hours. Horrendous winds (up to 100 mph) on Tuesday left thousands without power in Salt Lake City and areas north. Hundreds of trees were torn from the ground and branches snapped. We had a little damage in our neighborhood (not us personally; thankfully we’d just had all the trees pruned), but Cousin Kim in SLC lost a huge tree and a major branch on her apricot tree. Her whole yard, front and back, was littered knee-deep in branches blown in from all over the neighborhood. We had friends without power for a couple days as well. 

As scary as all that wind was, it’s nothing compared to what is happening in California, Oregon and the entire West with all the devastating fires. I grew up in Southern California and remember some scary fire seasons (1962 and 1977), and even remember, as a child, seeing the mountains north of us in the San Gabriel Valley - the foothill cities of Azusa, Monrovia, Arcadia, Sierra Madre and others - glowing red in the dark. Now some of those same areas are on fire again - and, unfortunately, many more. Those fires of decades past, however, were nothing compared to the devastation of 2018 and now 2020. Every year grows hotter and deadlier. Currently California is dealing with huge and deadly infernos, which include three of the four largest fires in California history. And prime fire season in Cali goes through October because of the warm autumns and the Santa Ana winds. My heart goes out to those who are dealing with the fires in the West, even if it is “only” the smoke and orange skies. Be safe, people, and know that the rest of us will do whatever we can to aid you in getting through this.

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Ok, so after that, having a counter-ful of tomatoes to make into sauce seems like a breeze! I don’t have any pictures, but there was also a lot of yellow squash, spaghetti squash, green beens, carrots, onions and grapes to deal with. I think the neighbors draw the blinds when they see me coming, LOL. Seriously, I’m so glad that one of our neighbors has rabbits - because we grew enough carrots to feed all the humans AND rabbits on the block!

But there was plenty of sewing, too. It’s my sanity. I just dug into those red scraps and didn’t come up for air until I had made lots of progress this week. I’ll be linking up to Angela’s blog for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge’s Scrappy Saturday

Fourteen Split Nine blocks (6.5”):


Two (11.5”) Beachcomber blocks:


And one red Scrap Bucket:

That was going to be all, but then I got going on my red strings and just couldn’t stop.


Twenty-four red string blocks at 6.5” (to finish at 6”). Some of these will probably get used in my red Creature Quilt (single-color quilt that I’ve been making every month). I don’t have that much red in my block orphanage, so this is what the makings of the Red Creature quilt is starting with:


There’s an 8.5” string block from last year that may get cut down. We’ll see. I also have a few more scraps that I’ll be cutting into more 3.5” squares to take up some area. So with that, the additional string blocks and possibly some of the red selvage half hexie blocks, I should have enough to do a small donation quilt. I’ve got a couple weeks to work on it. I also have some red International Sister blocks to sew. 

Darla wanted to help me with the red scraps, but she was too busy watching Kitten Academy on You Tube. We are really big fans of little Bessie, the wobbly kitten. Here’s Darla engrossed in the kitten tunnel antics. Notice that the tunnel is red! 

Finally, I didn’t forget my Tyrol blocks. I’ve been challenging myself to finish four of these every week so that once I get all 20 sewn, I can stitch up the flimsy (with sashing and cornerstones and borders) by month-end. Here are my four for this week.


Yep, they’re starting to look like repeats because, well, that’s the idea. But I can prove to you that I’ve now sewn 12 of the 20 needed.


Of the remaining 8 blocks, all are repeats of the above colors with the exception of one block in dark pink. 

We had a visit to the prosthetist for Bruce to get his arm adjusted. It sounds funny to say that, but most of you know by now that I mean his prosthetic arm. Tweaks and adjustments. It’s a process that will continue until his stump is done stabilizing (shrinking). And I got a fun fabric order from Connecting Threads for a quilt for my son Ryan for Christmas. I’ll show that in a couple months when I start on it - I have three other Christmas quilts to finish first. 

This morning I’ll be preparing the meat and marinade for fajitas tonight. I also bought strawberries at the store yesterday so I can use them with the last of my frozen rhubarb chunks to make strawberry-rhubarb compote. We’ll have that with the fajitas tonight because the freezer is already filled with gobs (technical term) of compote. And I’ll also be prepping a batch of six Egg McMuffins (English muffins, Canadian bacon, eggs, cheese) to freeze for Bruce’s lunches as needed. I like having them on hand for him. And I’m getting a real hankering for baked apples and some zucchini bread so I’m sure they are in the weekend cooking forecast, too.  All that plus some sewing on Sunday should keep me out of trouble. Ha! We’ll see.

22 comments:

  1. The red string blocks are gorgeous and so are the Tyrol blocks !!

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  2. You've had a busy week! I hadn't heard about the terrible windstorm in your area - glad you didn't have damage, but so sorry to hear about Kim. We lost a big branch to the wet snow from earlier this week, so spent much of Thursday on clean up. This year just doesn't get any better! I love your red scrap basket - I'm tempted to start making those!

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  3. Wow, can I come over for dinner? And maybe take some of that produce off your hands, too? :) Your blocks look great, and that Tyrol quilt is going to be amazing. I'm so glad you escaped the recent catastrophes! Stay safe and out of trouble!

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  4. Love your red string blocks! I'm also in camp Bessie. She's so adorable. I'm glad she and her mom will be living together.

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  5. SEW many RED blocks, a good start on The Creature from Valentine Mountain, AND a quilted basket, too?!?! And you say that I'm productive? Ha!! That would be YOU who is the productive one, Cathy.

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  6. Tyrol is going to be such a cheerful quilt! and I'm loving the split 9Ps, too.

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  7. We'll be over for dinner, too--(if only!!)

    I love the beachcomber blocks in red--so dramatic and stunning...they are my fave of the ones on your post today--(of course they are all lovely!!)
    I have Saucey chicken and stuffing in our crockpot to serve over noodles for our dinner tonight...and also strawberries for dessert. Funny, I've been hankering for zucchini bread, too.
    Hugs julierose

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  8. Dinner sounds fantastic! Sorry about the wind storm and all the damage. It seems Mother Nature is really in a bad mood this year - lets hope some rain is forecast for the west so they can get some help with the fires.
    Tyrol is coming along great as is the reds.

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  9. great red blocks and I like the fabrics in the tyrol quilt

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  10. Your string blocks are great! And the beachcomber blocks are favorites of mine too, you have been busy in the kitchen, too! We don’t have a garden, but I have a generous friend. I have zucchini from last year, that I need to make into cake, or bread or muffins.
    I’m so glad that you had just trimmed your trees! That save you a ton of work!
    Have a good week.

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  11. Sewing and baking, sounds like fun to me.

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  12. The real victims of the fires are the poor kittens who ask for open windows and are IGNORED! And why are you showing pictures of geriatric kittens when there is a new fresh batch for viewing? Most people like their kittens, I mean cookies, straight out of the oven.

    Respectfully,

    Molly Kitten

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  13. I just can’t believe how much you accomplish in one week!. Sewing, cooking, dealing with huge amounts of veggies, Attending Bruce’s appointment ....... do you ever sleep? Your blocks are great, both red RSC ones and the beautiful ones you are making for the Tyrol quilt.

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  14. You've been a cookin', cannin', and stitchin' momma this week! All your scrappy red blocks made my heart sing! Thinking about all the gobs of goodies in your freezer makes me shake my head...this time of year is when we try to keep the freezer as empty as possible, 'cuz you never know when a hurricane is going to blow through and knock out the power for who knows how long.

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  15. Reading about all the meteorological traumas occurring throughout the country, I'm worried about what Mother Nature has in store for us this winter. Since we are going to forego our trip south this winter due to Covid concerns, I'm bracing for the coldest, snowiest winter ever. Wish I lived closer so I could take some of your excess produce off your hands. Your claim of not having many red scraps isn't substantiated by the number of blocks you've made. I'm finally getting the long overdue baby quilt quilted. Rain here today, so I have no excuse not to work on it. Here's hoping you have a quiet week with no smoke, wind or fire.
    Pat

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  16. Again, I am in awe of all your accomplishments.
    We are battling the smoke here. I have COPD, so can't go outside much and that bothers me because I am not taking proper care of the mini horse, sheep and goat that comprise my outside fur babies. I do make sure they have food and water, but my daughter is cleaning their enclosures and that means I am not spending enough quality time with them! The inside fur and feathered babies are getting all of my attention at this time and they love it. I just started my indoor kitties on YouTube Cat TV. I have never seen them so engrossed in TV before!
    I love all the red blocks. Red is such a vibrant color. The Creature quilt is going to be awesome in red! I love the colors in you Tyrol blocks. Such a great combination!
    Stay safe out there, I hope you all don't get anymore storms of any kind. I think this year should be done with all of it's nasty pranks! It can't be soon enough to put this year to bed!

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  17. Love all that red, especially the split 9s. Well, I have been thinking about baking so it must be Autumn. I am wondering how all these fires will effect the fresh fruit supplies. A fire hit one of the local orchards. Too close to home for me.
    xx, Carol

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  18. Really loving those Tyrol blocks! I absolutely must make this one! It's been so fun seeing yours come together.

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  19. It's just before lunch here and my tummy is grumbling after reading about all your food antics! I'm sorry to hear about Kim's apricot tree, especially knowing yours is gone, too. I found myself thinking just last night about your Beachcomber blocks. I have a bunch of 8.5" crumb blocks I could use, but the final blocks would be ginormous. Hm. Maybe if I cut them in quarters to 4.25" crumbs? Of course, what I REALLY want to do is start a Tyrol quilt! Must. Resist. New. Projects.

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  20. Gee, I step away from Bloglovin' for a couple of days and I miss a lot! Your garden has been bountiful this year and you can imagine warm summer days in January when you cook with some of that tomato sauce. Your red blocks all look great. Will this month be Creature from the Red Planet?

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  21. I can't imagine how you got so much sewing done with all the gardening & canning & cooking. Then there were Bruce's appts too! You certainly were on fast forward this week. Great job! Loving the Tyrol blocks. Really pretty!

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  22. You have everything my mouth wants, my belly desires and my soul craves. Beautiful red blocks, absolutely gorgeous string blocks and a yummy menu. Damn the distance. I miss you. Big Hugs to you and Best Wishes to Bruce.

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