Sister's Choice Quilts

More Fall Mug Rugs

These photos aren't the greatest, but how cute are these mug rugs? They are around 8 1/2 inches wide. I have to admit I have made six of them and only four are worthy of gifting to people. A couple of the earliest ones came out really wonky. I have improved my trimming method and am better at lining things up so it comes out symmetrical. The fabric I used above is absolutely the cutest, and I may have to stick to it for future efforts. It is Kitty Corn by Urban Chiks. It is selling out fast, so if you want any, you had better act now. Eva quickly claimed that one as hers.

I would have bet Eva would have chosen this one for herself, but nope, her tastes have evolved it seems. I could see she was hesitating over it, but in the end chose the one from the Kitty Corn collection. This one was made from bits and bobs in my scrap bin.

This last one seems a bit dull after the fun Halloween ones, but it is a nice one for fall I guess. The fabrics are from an ancient collection by Brannock and Patek called Four Seasons. I am guessing it is ten years old. Anyone know when it came out?

I have more mug rugs lined up to make, but I have the busiest week ever planned for this week. Every day I have work assignments or places to be or homeschooling projects to do with Eva. No idea how I will get it all done. Burning some midnight oil is in my future I think. Please stick with me if my posting is spotty.

Hope you all had a great weekend. My dad is doing great. I fed him fish two nights in a row over the weekend, so he was a happy camper. And best of all, my husband's oncologist called to tell him that his latest test results were excellent and he shows no sign of prostate cancer right now. Now that is a cause for celebration.

Talk soon!

Quickie Update

Just the quickest update today. I spent Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and part of Sunday with my dad. One of my sisters is on a family vacation and my other sister and I had to cover her days with our dad this past week. I am always trying to come up with things to tempt him as far as meals go. He has such a light appetite and is overwhelmed when given a big plate of food. He doesn't care for a lot of carbs and prefers his food to be pretty simple. I can't tell you how often I serve him something and he says "I just can't eat all of this".

This past weekend I kind of gave up. I decided not to fuss at all, but just to serve the simplest plain, cold food. The photo above was our lunch on Saturday. We had raw carrots, radishes, organic cherry tomatoes, cut-up fresh pineapple, and half a sliced peach. And for dessert, we split a peanut butter cookie.

After our cookie discussion last week, I was reminded of how much I loved peanut butter cookies and how I never get one anymore.

We both loved this lunch, which was pretty perfect.  The peach was kind of mushy, but everything else was great. Why is it so hard to get a good peach?

And I have to say, the pineapple was amazing, but for me, that peanut butter cookie really hit the spot. And Dad ate everything on his plate!

Oh,  and I reminded him of Grandma Tillie, and he remembered her vividly. I mentioned her gentleman friend "Mac" and said that no one ever made his relationship to her clear to me. All he said was, "Oh, no, they wouldn't have". And that was the end of that discussion, except for him saying "Goodness, I had forgotten about him. Haven't thought of him in years". Right, like about 70? They say you aren't really dead until the last person who remembers you is gone.

Cookies!

Eva and I do a cooking project every Tuesday and this week we made Sugar Cookies.
Melt-in-your-mouth-delicious sugar cookies!

My Great Grandma Tillie made sugar cookies all the time and they were such a favorite of mine when I was growing up in Michigan. Hers were kind of puffy and each one had a big fat raisin on top. Just one. Grandma Tillie also wore crimson nail polish and lived with a man named Mac, whose relationship was never completely clear to me. I'll have to ask my dad about that. Grandma Tillie was my mother's step-father's mother, so Dad may not know or remember. Now that I think about it, Tillie wasn't a blood relation to me at all.  She and the neighbor ladies used to sit and play cards in her kitchen on hot summer days. They always took off their blouses and played in their bras or slips. Good grief, the things I recall in my old age.

I recently bought a new cookbook that has 100 cookie recipes. And every one of them looks delicious. I wish Eva liked nuts, because the fact that she doesn't eliminates many of the recipes. There are bar cookies and drop cookies and roll in a ball cookies. I would like to start at Chapter One and just work my way through the book. One recipe that sounded good was a S'Mores Cookie. It had a graham cracker base, then a chocolate layer, then a marshmallow topping.

Do you have any memories from your childhood of special cookies?

Week Six Red Sampler Blocks

It has been like pulling teeth, but I managed to finish the Week Six Red Sampler blocks. Aren't the two six-inch blocks adorable? I especially low the one that looks like 4 Xs. I had fun making both the smaller blocks on Sunday afternoon when I got home from my dad's.

Here's a closer look at the two six-inch blocks.

My father is doing great. He doesn't eat much, but since my sisters and I have been looking after him and preparing his meals, he has gained at least 10 pounds. Which means he weighs 150 pounds instead of 140. He is pretty frail, but we are building him up! No matter how full he is, he always can be counted on to enjoy a small dessert. His favorite is one of those Drumstick ice cream cones.

Big week coming up. Drumroll......Miss Eva turns 10 tomorrow! I can't believe how the time has flown. Our girl is double digits. It seems like yesterday that I got a ticket while I was following Sara and Ryan to the hospital. I was so excited to get there, and things kept holding me up. First the darn cop with his ticket, then a stupid cow was standing in the road and I had to stop and wait for it to move. I live out in the country, but that is ridiculous. Can't those farmers keep track of their stock?

I got to spend the night at the hospital waiting for Eva's birth, which didn't happen until around noon the next day. Hurry up and wait, right? As you can see, I only had eyes for Eva. 

Poor Sara, she looks done in. She had a time of it. Eva was born "sunny side up" instead of in the normal head-down position, which makes things difficult for Mama. It sure surprised everyone, even the doctor.

Eva is growing up to be such a lovely young lady.

One Quilt Block

This one quilt block is the only one I have managed to make this week. But here it is. The block is Butter Churn from Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage book. It is the 12-inch block from Week Six of Lori's Red Sampler Sew Along. I didn't have her exact fabrics but came as close as I could with what I had on hand. It's kind of a busy little thing. The idea was to mix tones of red. That fabric with the hangers on it is about as cute as it gets.

I am enjoying the sew along a lot, but have fallen far behind. I've decided not to worry about it one bit.

We had Eva over for a sleepover on Tuesday night and we made shish kebabs. You can't see it very well in the picture but she is holding up a skewer of peppers that she had just assembled. She is pretending to take a bite. She is wearing her fox nightshirt and the veggies kind of blend in. (We had just gotten home from the pool and she changed into her sleep shirt from her wet swimsuit).

And here is my husband seasoning the meat. He is doing very well after his recent health issues, thank goodness. We had a very nice family time with our granddaughter that night. The kebabs were delicious and so easy. 

When we make shish kebab, we always put all the same item on a skewer, we never mix them up. In photos, they show a slice of onion, a tomato, a mushroom, a pepper, the meat, etc all on one skewer and it looks so pretty. We have found that the different items all take different lengths of time to cook, so our skewers are all meat, all onion, all peppers, etc. How do you do it?

Hope you are having a great week!

Doggie Dementia

Have any of you heard of canine dementia? I am curious. I know a bit about dementia in humans, having had friends and relatives succumb to it. There is a symptom that is particularly interesting that is called "Sundowner Syndrome" which apparently affects not only us humans with dementia, but dogs as well.

This little guy is my daughter's dog Remy. He is a West Highland Terrier who is going on 14 years of age in December. He has some issues with arthritis in his hips, (or some other deteriorating condition of his hip joints). Other than that, he has seemed to carry on fairly well with his aging issues. Recently, however, in the late afternoon and early evening, he has started behaving strangely. He paces around in circles, seems anxious, has his tongue hanging out, and appears not at all comfortable or happy. It is as if he feels something needs to happen, but he isn't sure what that might be or how it will affect him.

It turns out that in both humans and dogs, the approach of sundown can trigger emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes. In both humans and canines with dementia, the approach of darkness can trigger fears that they need to be somewhere (go home), or do something to wind up the day. He definitely appears to be anxious and insecure at that time.

I found that getting Remy snuggled into a warm comfortable spot seems to help. He likes being on the couch, surrounded by pillows or with me at his side cuddling up to him. It is as if he is getting the signal that we are done with our day, we are in a cozy spot, and can settle in. Most of the time it works, but at other times he just can't settle in and continues to pace around anxiously.

Here the poor little guy is. We try to hold him and comfort him, but he trembles and shakes and seems terrified. Ozzie sits at my husband's feet, worrying about his buddy. You can see out the window that it is just at sunset.

Have any of you experienced this strange symptom in your loved ones? Human or canine? Have you come up with any techniques to manage it?

Simple Folded Corner Ruler

My big news is that I have only two more vertical rows to sew for my Moda BlockHeads 3 quilt! That quilt is just humongous. King-sized for sure. As I was sewing a row together over the weekend, I noticed one of my twelve-inch blocks was just a mess. I do not know what happened, but when I looked at it close up and personal I was not happy. I decided to replace it with something else and so made my final block for this sew-along. There you have it above. It is called Autumn Star and is from one of Lori Holt's books.

I have been finding that more often than not lately, I have been reaching for Doug Leko's Simple Folded Corner Tool when I have to make those "draw a line diagonally, stitch a quarter inch away, and trim" kind of instructions. There are so many lines to line up the tool on your fabric that you basically cannot go wrong and end up with a wonky block unit. 

I had to make eight of the rectangular units and sew them together into four block segments. Only, I managed to sew them together incorrectly. I did an outstanding job of matching up my points, but unfortunately, this is not how the unit is supposed to look.

This is what the units were supposed to look like. Luckily, thanks to the tool, even after unsewing all the pieces, the final results turned out great.

Do press your seams open for the best results.

In other news, my son-in-law and his new wife celebrated their first year of marriage with a spectacular sushi party in their backyard. Now that most of us have been vaccinated, small gatherings are starting up again. It was so lovely to get together with friends to celebrate something together! The sushi chef is above explaining all the fabulous dishes he will be coming out with over the course of the evening. It was loads of fun, and the food was both unusual and delicious.

Hope you had something to celebrate this weekend!

Freezer Meals

With all I have going on at the moment, I have been trying to think of something, anything, that would make things a bit easier. Ten years ago, when my daughter Sara was pregnant with Eva, we got together a couple of times and made freezer meals. The idea was, she would stock up her freezer with dinners so life would be simpler once her newborn had arrived. Great idea. That could work for me now, right?

Back then, I bought a book called Dream Dinners which features make ahead and freeze meals. It is still in print, but I bet you could find a used copy and save even more money. The women who wrote the book actually started up a franchise business where people could go assemble meals and take them home to freeze. I recall seeing the shops but never went in. I think it was kind of expensive. I like the idea of picking out a few recipes, doing a marathon shopping trip, and going home and assembling the meals myself. 

So that is what I did yesterday. 

I made Spaghetti and Meatballs, Beef Enchiladas, and Baked Ziti Casserole. My husband and I don't eat that much since it is just the two of us, so I bought fairly small containers for freezing. They are foil pans that come in a stack of five. They measure 6" x 8" and are about 2" deep. Each recipe I made served 6 people, and I managed to divide each recipe into three pans. Each pan would provide two very generous servings.

I will say, it did take about three and a half hours to cook and assemble everything. But I now have 9 freezer meals to use on busy days or to take with me when I stay with my father on the weekends.

I'd like to take this a step further though. I have been reading about making freezer meals that you place into freezer bags and then put directly into your Instant Pot or slow cooker. How about that for a great idea? Plus, most of these types of meals do not require cooking first. You just combine the raw ingredients in the bag and freeze. Have any of you made these types of meals? Can you recommend a cookbook that has recipes that go from freezer to Instant Pot or slow cooker? Please share if you have any suggestions!

Christmas Themed Masks

Even elves need to wear masks this holiday season. It's sad but true. My little elf turned up at my front door yesterday, outfit on point except for the missing mask.  No problem. We got busy and got her fixed up.

Have you tried the Creative Grids mask template? It is my absolute favorite. You can make masks in three different sizes, and the fit is the best I have come across.

There are several helpful videos to show you how to construct a mask with the template. Eva is wearing the size small.

Well, after making a Christmas mask for the elf's mama, my elf and I are off to make applesauce cookies for our cooking project this week. Hope all is going great for all of you!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving friends. I hope you are all feeling as thankful and blessed as I am. Even though we may not be together this year, I am so grateful for my wonderful family.