A baking day: (I must have been temporarily crazy to bake in this heat!)

I had a wild idea that I needed to bake cookies for work and a loaf of bread for us, today.  Whew!  It was great fun, actually!!  The "kids" at work love cookies, so I wrap them individually so they can slip them into a scrub pocket and have them anytime they get a break.

I baked an herb chicken, and cut up a watermelon and made coleslaw, so I have food made ahead for a bit.

I made a test block of this one, above...and then??

 I cut out a whole bunch more, 35 blocks in all.  I used only pieces from the 2.5-inch-wide strip bin.  It still looks as full as ever...I think I fluffed it up.

Julie

Miscellaneous...

Well, goodness sakes.  I thought I did not have any dark blues, so I went on Amazon, and found a super-duper good deal, and these arrived, which are mostly NOT dark blue.  

And then?  I found my cache of dark blues!!!  Crazy girlie!!!  I will use these blues for another quilt!!!

The little glass bottle that this plant resides in is a medication piggyback from work. We throw these away by the hundreds every day.  I asked my boss if I could have a few from the trash, and he did not care, so I washed them out and then I root these and other plants in them.  Just trying to help use things again, as we throw away so, so much in this society.  All the food that comes up on trays, even if it is never touched pre-packaged food, and never goes into a patient room, is thrown away.  So much waste!!  I understand why, but it pains me, nevertheless.

My darling friend in Australia is going on a big trip in her caravan!!!  I think a caravan is a camper (as we say in America).  I just love hearing about her adventures, and where she is going, and I am following her updates on my map, and then I look up and learn about the places she is going to.  I love it! Thanks, Lyn!!

Ahhhh, the Appalachian trail!!  A mecca for hikers and nature lovers, this trail has always appealed to me, and it is some 2000 miles long, beginning to end.  I just ordered and received this book.  It is the story of a lady, an OLDER lady, who hiked it beginning to end!  I cannot wait to read it!!!

 

Julie

Slow stitching Wagon Wheels, and other scrappy goodies

I am so pleased to get the borders sewn onto this quilt!  Yahoo for an oldie but a goody.  

These are just bordered pinwheel blocks, with a circle appliqued on top.  I think of my forebearers, coming west in a covered wagon, thus the name "Wagon Wheels".  Hurrah for a finished quilt top!

A friend used her embroidery machine and made these towels...sorry the lighting was awful.  They are pure white towels. 

Love this one too!

A lady volunteer from the gift shop gave me a sprig of a plant in a pot.  She said it was an angel wing begonia.  I put it in the back of the house, by the sunniest window, and have been nursing it along.  See the leaves, that form angel's wings?  Thus, the name...I did not know this and am so happy to have it flourish!  I love the pink blossoms that are appearing! 

One tomato plant is thriving in the heat, not sure how, but it is putting on tiny little baby tomatoes.  I continue to water them, but in 108-degree heat here in Texas....they are suffering.  Poor babies!  I just thought of something...I will bring the ones in pots into the back room with the begonia.

I make sure any outside animals, like raccoons, possums, and cats that wander by all have water to drink.  TOO HOT!  

My zinnias continue to bloom, however, if I water them morning and night.  I love their simple, colorful blooms.  Practically foolproof flowers!  See my toasty lawn? this is with watering every day!

My favorite pink! 

A large white bloom...lovely!

Hope you all have a lovely day!

*********************Nurse's notes*****************

A lady came in with a heart attack, sick as a dog, coughing, wheezing, could not keep her saturation up until she was on high flow oxygen. Fever, severe headache., very high inflammatory makers.  Sure enough, a covid induced heart attack...inflammation is a key in this infectious disease.  She had two positive tests yet was adamant that she did not have covid and that we were making it all up.  

Sigh...OK.  Until then...she is in isolation. I tried very hard to teach her about why she was getting anti-viral meds, and all about what had happened...she was having none of it, and I was stupid, and the hospital was too, and the doctors knew nothing.  

Ok, dear...I will continue to care for you, anyway!!!!!!!!!  I hope she feels better and can grasp more later on.

**********************************************

 Julie

Buckling down to it!

I have worked really hard on this today!  In-between cleaning house, I sewed and sewed and sewed on this!  Yahoo! One piece is always better than many!

 Closer.  I like the little nine patches!

Have a great day, each of you!

Churn dash update...I guess it is every Monday!

Good morning!  I sewed three more churn dash blocks!!  Hurrah!!  Only a few more to go!

I am trying to eat more veggies each day.  On work days, it is harder, but this is my selection for today.  I just washed them, cut them up, and baked them with a dash of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Lots better than junk food!

I have a zillion of these blocks cut out.  Truly a whole bunch.  Would anyone like to adopt this UFO?  I will send them all to whomever wants them first!

 I have lots of these blocks, all cut out.  Would anyone like these!?  I have the blues cut out, and you would need to add whatever neutrals you would like.  

Just let me know if you would like to adopt these projects.

Have a lovely day!

Julie

OH lookee! A new squirrel just ran by!!

Hello!!!  Is everyone staying cool out there?  Or warm...depending on where you are.  It cooled to 86 degrees with a brief rain shower this afternoon and we all rejoiced!!!

My quilt guild had a recent sew along, using these blocks.  They ae so simple...and would be a great quilt of valor, put with more blocks...so off to the races!  SEE HOW THOSE SQUIRRELS GO?  Hahaha!

I made this little purse, using a block that was gifted to me.  I added the top strips and a zipper and interfacing.  

Tada!  A little wristlet!!  Lori, you will recognize the block.

ON the free table at guild:  One wool yarn ball.  I am still trying to knit in the evenings. 

A selection of pinks!

A very odd brown, which I loved immediately.  I left tons of things for people to pick up, too...so I guess I left more than I took.  Win/win!  Anything left gets tossed in the garbage, so....

 I found this pattern online.  I adore it!!  Scraps rule!

I hope each of you is doing fine!

Julie

Churn dash update for Chooky!

Happy Monday!

I sewed five churn dash blocks this morning.  Yahoo! 

This is my total so far.  I am progressing right along.  Thank you, Chooky, for a fun quilt along!

https://chookyblue.blogspot.com/2022/05/churn-dash-sal.html

It is never tooooo  late to make some churn dash blocks and join the fun, you know!

This is where I am getting my nine patches from.  There are a LARGE number of nine patches in this box.  The boxes are thrown out by the dozens each day, from the hospital, as saline flushes from IV's come in these boxes.  I have a dozen of them that I use to organize my projects, and use them over and over.  Recycling!  Reusing!  

I just loved to piece, and pieced a ton of nine patches! Some of these were from a swap, as well.  

 A lady from the quilt guild handed me a bag, with all of these small scrappy quilt tops in it!  I cannot get them quilted all at once, but going along, I will get them quilted and in the hands of people who can enjoy them.  Thank you, Miriam!

########################Nurse's notes##########################

I was the charge nurse yesterday, at my work.  But...our lone nursing assistant called in sick.  Honestly, I think it was because she knew she would be by herself and worked to death!  So what to do?  I called everyone I knew (PCT's) to come help...no one could.  So, I became the nursing assistant, as well as the charge nurse.   I had a blast!!!  Vitals signs every four hours on 18 patients, passed trays and picked them up three times, up and down to bathroom and up in the hallways helping patient to ambulate, changing linens, doing baths.  I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  A closer connection to these precious patients, striving to get well and get home.    NO thinking involved...just work.  NO trying to titrate drips, adjust ventilators, balloon pumps, impella machines.  Just work.  

Work does a body (and brain) good!!

###############################################################

Old sayings...Mrs Goodneedle had a wonderful post about old time sayings.  One I remember from momma was, 

"Don't you go borrowing trouble!"  

So tell us all a saying that you remember from days gone by!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I loved reading the ones here:

https://strawberrypatchquiltworks.blogspot.com/2022/07/old-sayings.html

Julie

Dashing through the snow! (I wish)

 Four more churn dash blocks!  I snuck in a couple of nine patches into the middle of two of them.

It is HOT here.  109 by the pickup truck temp gauge yesterday.  Wheww!!!!!!!!!   My plants are trying to survive it, and I have moved them to the shady areas of the backyard.

Hello to everyone!!  Remember Bonnie Hunter's leader and ender quilt from last year?  The fishie blocks?  

Quiltville's Quips & Snips!!: July 2021 Leader & Ender Challenge: FISH SCHOOL!

Well, she has just recently announced her NEW one!  I better get cracking on finishing the old one!!  

I cut all the remaining required blocks today.  Hurrah!!  This will be fun sewing!!!  I used a paper plate and pinned the pieces for each block together.  I often run and sweep, sew a block, vacuum, sew a block, fold laundry, sew a block...you get it!  I get a lot done if the pieces are all ready to sew.  Just kind of game I play to make it all fun.  

Is this not the cutest panel in all of the world?  I was recently gifted a box of NURSE fabrics, from a very kind blogger! I am so excited to make something of this!  The wheels are turned...squeak!  Thank you so much!

Quiltville's Quips & Snips!!: Leader & Ender Challenge 1! Triple Treat!

I could not resist making a sample block of the new leader and ender pattern.  I am going a different color way and making a quilt of valor.  This one goes to the quilt guild, and they take them to the place that distributes the quilts to veterans.

 I got most of it cut out.  Surprisingly, I did not have many dark blues.  But I scraped it out, LOL!!!

I looked in the blue bin, the reproduction bin, and the red, white and blue bin.  I had just enough variety!

Hope you are doing fantastic!

Julie

Happy Fourth!

Lyn!  Thank you for this little quilt holder.  Just right for a 5-inch by 6-inch quilt, for the seasons.  I have had it for years and enjoy it all the time. 

This is another little quilt for the season.

And more red, white and blue quilts.  I discovered that the little sampler has some not quite finished quilting!

While rooting through the little quilts, I found this one.  I think it is from early in my quilting career, because the quilting stitches are tiny and all hand done.  

 See my silly quilting in the black inner border!  That was fun!!!

I often made tiny quilts like this, in the past, so that I could duplicate them later.  This would be a good lead and ender challenge for me!

Hope you have a lovely day!

Julie

Wagon wheel and patient quilts

Good morning to you!  I have finished the Wagon Wheel quilt center!  All the "wheels" were hand applique, so it took a while.  It especially takes a long time if you are not working on it, as this quilt idea languished for several years before it screamed out to me..."FINISH ME!"  I am delighted with it, and now I am looking of a border in my stash.  Well, I WILL be looking for that border, when I have a day off from work. 

 I have worked overtime this week, due to the high price of living these days.  Frankly, it is unsustainable.  Groceries are crazy expensive here!  I cannot imagine people who cannot find extra work, as I have been lucky to do.  I am going to try and pick up one extra shift per week, working at the hospital.  I am also cutting back on a number of things....I don't shop much...but some things I can economize on.  
 

I recently received these quilts for patients back from the quilter.  Above is a close up of the variegated thread the quilter chose.

This is the whole quilt, and the donator of the quilt top said her mom made the quilt top from a class and kits from Joann's, years ago.

Here is the second quilt top.  I love this one a lot....just a down home, fun quilt.  It is soft and cuddly.  Hurrah for some finishes!!!  Well, almost...I have the binding cut, but still need to apply it.  I always hand stitch the binding down, but am thinking maybe I should do it by machine, so that it can be washed over and over again without worrying.  After all, these are for chemo patients for the most part, and they get sick, etc....these need to be sturdy. 

Any thoughts of hand binding versus machine binding?  Is it sacrilegious to bind by machine??????????  Haha!

Hope each of you is finding joy...it is a tough world out there, these days!!

Julie