Monday, AUGUST 1st

[purrfect-lady]

Good very early morning,

I woke up at 0145, did the usual tossing and turning, tried to read, and finally got up for a cup of mocha drink. I've been roaming the forum, admiring the blocks in the Christmas swap. Check them out if you haven't yet. They are fun!

Our heat wave is supposed to break today and we are to cool off to 80*. We broke a PNW record with 6 days in a row over 90*. Small potatoes to a lot of you, but we just ain't used to this!

JANA - I hope your fishies like their new digs. Do you have little structures and plastic plants for them to explore? I hope you got your rain and without any T&L. No one needs that! I'm looking forward to seeing your Halloween bench pillow.

LOIS - I've never FPP'd on vellum before, though one of my wallhanging patterns that I've had for about 8 years but haven't made yet has vellum included in it. Have you used it before? I'm curious to hear what you think. Is it expensive? A pack of 100 of Carol Doak's FPP papers is about $15 regular price.

DIANE - so nice to reconnect with good friends!

MARY Q - you have been an angel to help KC as much as you have. Hopefully friends or family can take it from here. Any more talk of her moving to AZ? It probably doesn't sound so enticing in the middle of the summer.

KATHY - you make your lake and trees sound so beautiful and peaceful! I'd love to sit on the porch with you and just look at the beauty. And haha! You are still shorter than I am. I was rounding down. I'm actually 4', 11-1/2". Sometimes I stand on my 7" step stool and just gaze around my kitchen to see things from the perspective of most other people. It's amazing what a difference! In my next life I'm going to come back 5'10"! Have you made any tea cup pincushions? And tips to pass on? I've never done it. Yet.
How is Kimberly doing?

SHERRY - how are you feeling this morning? Not a lot of sports on TV during the weekdays to keep you entertained. Did you see that Bill Russell passed away. I'm not really a basketball fan, but I did love Bill Russell. For a while he played for, and later coached our Seattle Super Sonics. He lived about a mile down the road from me during that time. He was a great guy in so many ways.

JUDI -

[fabricgirl]

Good morning Mary and all who follow,

Mary I don't remember what I paid for it because it was back a few years probably a tad stiffer than the other but it works for me as long as I have a sharp needle and a small stich I'm good to go I use that on that octagon table runner I made with the houses on it .
I also remember using tracing paper also so I guess whatever works I just don't like copy paper.

Today I will start book nerds and see how far I get.

But before I do that I have some laundry to be put on but that will be it for today.

I hope Everyone has a great day we did get some rain but not enough to make that big of a difference.

Prayers go out to all.
Lois

[FlorenceM]

Morning all,
Over last few days I cooked some of my tomatoes and made ho.emade marinara sauce. First time I cooked it in my cast irondutch oven....it turned orange from the oil used to season pot. This batch will be put in small ziplocs and froze fir soups over winter. Second batch made yesterday. Used one of my big stainless steel pots. It came perfect and we had it for supper yesterday.
Today the uglies list is long.
Maryz, heat broke here too. We normally have Temps in upper 90's & Temps were over 100 for month of July, and it's coming back.
Time to scoot
Flo

[QuiltGram8]

Good morning! Boy! Mary, you sure had a weird night. Might need a nap! We didn't do a nap yesterday. Just a relaxing day watched old John Wayne movie. Then ordered pizza for supper.
Flo, I wouldn't have thought about the iron pot changing the flavor, but I do know tomatoes cooking in a pot does work well in aluminum or stainless steel. I used to can tomatoes years ago. My big canning pots were sturdy aluminum.
Glad you can use it for soups this winter. I bet it still tastes delicious!
Well, time to get more coffee, then my shower and start laundry.
Have a great Monday!

[grammiequilts]

Good morning Happy August,,,Bright and sunny for now...we expect some thunder and lightening this afternoon. We need the rain...Lake Michigan is down quite a bit and all over the news,,,but not near as bad as Lake mead.
I have the 2 girls today and they are wanting to go to the mall...I set some limits last night ( dont make noise and wake us up< Dont go into the kitchen at night and make a mess< and dont wake up Dad and Grampa as they have to work) they were quiet and didint mess the kitchen up. So I went down this morning and took my biggest coffee mug n made me a great cuppa coffee and set it down and tipped it all over it want down between the fridge and counter and all ove the floor...hot too. I spent the last 54 minutes cleaning it up...I get so mad at myself for this stuff. had to move the fridge and get it out of there too... So now i made another cup and am sitting up in the sewing room quietly trying not to make another mess...
Sophia will only be here for a couple of days as she leaves Friday for a Disney Cruise,,,,her friends parents invited her along at their expense....( I never has rich friends when I was growing up) She is excited as she got to buy new clothes for the trip,,,( she bought 3 dresses) first time we ever saw her in a dress since she was little...But she wanted to be cruise dinner ready,,Cheyenne will be lonely as they are always together when she is here,,,We will find something to do...( Itried all the crafts and she said no to all of them) took her to hobbu lobby and Joanss..but nothing perked her interest,,,So she will have to figure it out...
I have a bout an hour and a half before they get up so I will sew on the twin needle block...still harder than I rememebr...Hope your day is fun.....Maryz you will need a nap. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[KATHYSQUILTS]

Good Rainy Morning......maybe cloudy later.....

Well here I am doing my old routine from before I sick. I think it's going to be an good thing.
Today is find the thing in the dishwasher that I'm supposed take out & clean.
Have a few uglies then finish the sewing room. I have a small cabinet for my printer & the drawer fell & broke. I guess I'll try some gorilla glue on it. It's in 5 pieces.
I have some letters to write & some cards too. That's my day!

Maryz......I'll be sure to check out the Christmas blocks. Never too early for Christmas. Glad your heat wave is ending. Prayers for all suffering heat & the fires.
Guess what? my feet are really swollen(a Summer thing)so I think I'm taller that you for today! Oh Yes coming back at 5'10" I'm with you. No teacup pin cushions as yet. I do have 2 teacups left from my collection. I'll check YouTube.

Lois.....I've not seen the Book Nerd pattern before. I love it, perfect for my DGD....her life is books(for right now). We have moderate drought..this rain didn't help. We're still lucky.

Flo.....congrats on your tomato production. Mmmm so good in the winter.

Love & Prayers.....Kathy

[velvet]

Another warm (hot and sticky) day here. Of course, always pop up buckets of rain added to the wind. We do need the rain as so many other areas of the country.
I like the pattern posted for a swap here yesterday and today will try using --guess what colors--RWB. You never know how it will come out. Not sure but worth a try.

All plans are made for our trip to Ireland--finally after 3 years in the making (covid and country shut down) We leave on the 10th and will be back on the 22nd. Fingers are crossed. Hubby and I will leave here with cousin Lynn and Bill and we'll meet up in Ireland with cousin Bob and Maryann with 2 of their friends. They are going to Scotland the week before we get there. We have info on family from there and hope to find some relatives maybe. If not-just to walk where they lived would be great.

Keep cool.
Diane

[auntjana]

Good morning!

Cloudy, hot, muggy sticky here - whoo hoo, great start to the monsoons for August! I would go out and do a rain dance, but that would probably scare away the rain!

Kitty cat and I are getting to be friends. She'll come over for a love now and has claimed a mission style rocking chair in my front room as hers for naps. Mostly, before, she'd hide in Karlie's bed or under the bed in the middle bedroom. Daniel installed a new door in my basement and added a cat door for her to come and go there. We will be moving the litter box down there and since at night, that door is kept closed, it needed the cat door. We bought a new door instead of cutting a hole in the door that matches the rest of the house. We'll swap it back when they move. On my LA, I have a batting hammock that holds the batt as I quilt, waiting for little kitty to find that to curl up in.

I have a small scavenger hunt list for this morning. Mostly fresh stuff. Then I will straighten my Batt Cave and see what trouble I can scare up.

The Batt Cave has always been planned as a family gathering place. It's turning into that quickly! We spend more time down there than the main upstairs. Place to play with trains and places to quilt or craft.

Well, it's time to get going, need to beat the rain that is coming. I may melt if I get wet, LOL! Not, my kids were all told that I was not the Wicked Witch of the West, and I haven't melted yet.

Hugs,
Jana

[WeeOne]

Happy Monday!

MaryZ, I woke up at 4 a.m. (Mtn time) but it was Minnie's fault. She pawed me. She needed to reposition next to me and then I needed to cover her up with her blanket. Sorry you had such an early morning. Hope you got back to sleep.

Kathy, I didn't realize you have a lake view. How very nice!!

Yesterday I finally got my Christmas swap sample block done and posted. I also posted a picture of some fusible interfacing that I had bought at some point, don't buy it. I tried using it on my block pieces and I could hardly get the piece turned because it just tore apart so easily. Thankfully I found some in the Art Bin box that had my Christmas swap fabric from last year and more Christmas fabric.

I was so surprised to learn that I won the July lotto. I wasn't sure if I was going to try the August, but since I found more Christmas fabric, I think I will.
My phone alarm goes off at 7. Then phone sound went off for camera movement at the Texas house, 8 a.m. there. The pest control guy must have done our house first today. I watched him on the cameras for a bit, he was doing a good job. It's important to spray for spiders and nasty's in Texas. The tree people who work for Estes power & light are to be here this week to remove a dead tree by the power line in the back yard. I need to move a small boat that is back there, but I can't find the key to the hitch lock DH has on it. That boat has sat back there since about 2002, so I have no idea what happened to the key.

I did some research on our taxes and we didn't use a Schedule A which is where the sales tax would be taken off, so I'm not posting receipts anymore!! Back in 2017 a change was made, so it's been a waste of time since then. I will set up my own system to do the household bookwork. MaryZ and Jana, I know you had made some suggestions a while back, but I forgot to write them down. So, I'm interested to know how y'all keep track of your paperwork, especially what you need at tax time.

Off to sew, hope to see in there.
Lyn

[maryq]

Good Morning Ladies

OH My Gosh!!! August 1st!!!!! Today is my Nolan's 11th birthday! I'd give him a big hug but they are on a family vacation to South Dakota and the Black Hills!

Maryz.... Another Sleepless in Seattle night for you? In the morning when I'm up and checking in here, it takes me so long to actually type a note that I run out of time and forget to check the other fun areas of the forum. I'm anxious to start my Christmas blocks, but I'm waiting on my neighbor Katie to help me with the faces. I'll be going back to KC"s now and then still. She has this HUGE box of patterns to go through, and I'm going to do a couple small quilts for her, but as my time permits. She's a bit of a character and if you believe her stories, she's lead an interesting life.

Lois..... What is Book Nerds? One of these days I'm going to go over to our Library and check out renting audio books. I like to have something on while I sew, and I'd like to try something different than TV or music. We could use a little rain here too... we got about 6 drops yesterday. OH googled the Book Nerd quilt pattern!! SO CUTE!


Flo... My BFF lives in Oak Grove and she's not quite used the HOT of Missouri yet! and it's more humid there than Colorado. You sure got a lot done in the heat though. Won't it be nice to have tomatoes over the winter. I have the canning jars, I could probably just go buy tomatoes!

Velda... Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday. I was in the car and by the time I got home, I totally forgot. Your flowers are lovely. Around here we all have geraniums in pots and my neighbor has the most beautiful Clematis. Next year I might dig up a couple of my shrubs and plant hydrangeas instead. I'd love to try to get purple or blue ones too!

Judi.... Did you see where they are finding bodies in Lake Mead? It's not far from Vegas right? What do you suppose they are mob hits? Now that would make an interesting documentary of all the bodies found in the lake! Chey didn't even like those diamond art kits? Aren't teenagers fun! Frustrating when they don't show and interest in ANYTHING.. I suppose she'd just rather be on her phone!

Kathy..... Nice to be back to old routines... isn't it? I mean it is isn't it? That thing to clean out is usually right in the middle of the bottom, at least it is in my new dishwasher, I don't remember ever seeing one in the old one. Dang... hope you can fix your drawer!

Diane.... You are going to Ireland??? OH take me with you !! I want to go back so bad! I have a passport and I can get packed and ready in about 2 hours!!! I need to go back to Dublin and get my tattoo from there re-done! I have a tiny shamrock on my .... (use your imagination) How long will you be there? Taking a tour? It's been 22 years since I was there!

Jana... sounds like the cat is making herself comfortable in her new home. I'm certainly not a cat expert like Maryz but I've heard they do not like their routines interrupted and need a while to sort of get in the groove of their new place!

Lyn... I saw your post about the interfacing... would you have meant to use fusible like Heat and Bond instead of interfacing like for like as a stiffening? Thanks for sharing that tip anyway... Always nice to know the things to avoid! Years ago I knew an accountant who save every single little receipt to total up sales tax... I mean EVERY receipt. Then at some point the rules changed and you couldn't deduct it any more. I don't know if I would have even been that diligent to save every receipt

Time for more coffee... and a shower. POTD today is to go get groceries... and Target run and hopefully get back home before the ice cream melts!

Have a Marvelous Monday!