Finishing up the Quilt of Valor this week was easy, as my machine behaved itself. Amazingly, I ran out of bobbin thread at the end of a pass each time, so no tying off in the middle of the quilt. That doesn’t happen often! I used white Glide thread on top, and white Bottom Line in the bobbin.
The pantograph is Blue Star from Urban Elementz.
I finished it up on Monday, and the client picked it up on Tuesday. She’ll trim and bind it, then add a label, and it will be ready to award to a veteran. It is hard to see in the photo, but the outermost border is white.
On Wednesday, a friend came over for some stamping fun. We worked about an hour on a secret project, then had some fun chat time. It has been forever since I had anyone over for stamping or sewing, and I enjoyed every moment. I can’t show you the project yet, but I’ll tell you about it later.
Hurricane Ian is expected to bring us a rainy day for the Virtual Sew In tomorrow, and I can’t wait. I’ll be emailing the Meeting ID and Password on Saturday morning. It is going to be so fun to sew with you on Zoom, and have a rainy day, too. Perfect time for a slow cooker meal to simmer away while we finish up projects to make way for Autumn Jubilee. I made this Slow Cooker Bourbon Beef last weekend, and it was marvelous! It is essentially my Slow Cooker Garlic Beef recipe, with the roasted garlic left out, and adding a half cup of bourbon to the pot for slow cooking. I also added about a cup of quartered mushrooms.
After the beef, onions and mushrooms have simmered all day, I pour the liquid off and de-fat it using a fat separator like this. The sieve at the top will catch any large bits left, the liquid goes to the bottom. The fat floats on top, and the broth will pour from the bottom, effectively and quickly de-fatting the broth.
Then thicken it on the stove with a slurry (either flour/water or cornstarch/water), and add it back to the meat.
Yum! I made some wide noodles to serve with it. This smelled so good, I made our plates and dove in before getting a final shot! I had to go back and add some noodles and a couple of pieces of the fall-apart tender beef to the plate to show you the final dish. It was delicious the next day with some jasmine rice, too.
Shop for what you need today, so you can have a slow cooker meal going while we sew all day Saturday in the Virtual Sew Day. If you have chicken thighs, make my Bourbon Chicken.
Savory Slow Cooker Pot Roast is easy too.
I have a ham bone from the freezer that needs to be used, so I plan to make Ham and White Bean Soup. See those posts for the recipes and downloadable pdfs.
Outside at the bird feeder, the cooler air is bringing by some migrating birds. With my new camera, I can finally take some nice shots of the birds again as they stop off for a meal. I saw this guy, and it took a few minutes to figure out that he is a juvenile grosbeak. The red on his chest is just coming in, and the whitish stripe over his eye is still apparent.
I got the garden work done this week, digging up the basil plant and putting it in a pot for inside the kitchen. It was so big, that I had to cut off two of the leaf stalks, and those went into a vase. I’ll use as much as I can fresh, and freeze the rest. I sent one of these huge stalks home with a friend.
Then, I finished up my Sashiko handwork and put together the little bag using the kit I got at the class. This was so much fun to do, and I’ll do a post on it for you in detail after Autumn Jubilee.
The remainder of this past week was devoted to Autumn Jubilee projects, and getting enough ahead to be able to post the steps. I am part way through the quilt along, sew along, wool stitch along, and I’ve begun several more projects for the event. Now’s the time to get your friends to follow, so they don’t miss an opportunity for special deals, free patterns, and giveaways. If you are new to Autumn Jubilee, do take a look at the Autumn Jubilee Rules and Notices page.
Reminder for our Stashbuster Challenge, the challenge will take the month of October off due to Autumn Jubilee. Keep track of your fabric in and out, and we will report two month’s worth on our November check in date – Friday November 4th.
And one last fun thing. Today I take over the Instagram account for All People Quilt for the weekend. I’ll have lots of photos of my work, fun ideas for using quilts to decorate for fall, ideas for the holidays from previous years, and more over the next three days! They gave me this opportunity as I one of the designers for the fall issue of Quilts and More Magazine. I do hope that a few of those folks will choose to follow my blog, especially with Autumn Jubilee starting in two days!
If you are finding my blog today from the Instagram takeover, or any referral, welcome and please take a moment to look around. My blog is a variety of subjects, a lot of quilting and sewing, but also tablescapes, recipes, book reviews, hand stitching, stamping cards, crafting, gardening, travel and mountain living. I’ve been blogging since 2014, and my blog is loaded with tutorials and free projects. Something for everyone here! To follow by email or blog reader, use the link buttons on the sidebar. If you are viewing my blog on a smartphone, scroll down past the comments to see the options. If you are on a computer, the options are on the sidebar on the right. Click on the title “From My Carolina Home” at the top to see the latest posts and projects on the blog. Have fun!
The pumpkin display above was at my local big box hardware store, and really put me in the mood for fall. Are you ready for Autumn Jubilee? What’s in your slow cooker this weekend? Will you be sewing on a rainy Saturday?
Psst – Amazon Prime Days are coming in October, too! On October 11 and 12, you’ll get some great deals for Prime members only for a head start on your holiday shopping. Not a Prime member yet? Click on this 30-day Free Trial, sign up, and get access to the Prime deals along with free shipping on orders, Amazon Prime TV, ad-free music and more. Thanks for using my affiliate links when you can.
From My Carolina Home 
I’m looking forward to Saturday’s quilting retreat.
This morning grocery store. Then preparing the sewing room with multiple projects.
Ian will be giving us rain, too, sew a great day to be in the sewing room.
Mouth drooling…..great menu ideas. I am not participating with Stashbusters……but do keep a close inventory on art quilts made/sold which helps zero in on trends in sales. Which actually tells me nothing…..bottom line….it takes just that right person to walk in and fall instantly in love with a piece and give it a home. I was lamenting earlier this month that it’s been slow, folks hanging onto their hard earned money. Well….a sudden end of the month flurry with one day to go……I’ve sold 5 art quilts so far…..WHEW and a big yeah!!
These is lots happening at your space, and the autumn pictures set the mood for appreciating all that nature brings us in this season. I will be sewing on Saturday. Hurricane Fiona hit our Atlantic provinces and with the huge amount of damage, it will be some time before repairs will be done. I’m looking forward to your posts during your Autumn jubilee. Inspiration is something I find in this kind of an event. I always enjoy your blog posts, Carole.
So much happening! Good thing we have 31 days in October. I’m glad to have an extra month for the fabric confessional. I fell off the wagon in September.
Hi Carol, I continue to enjoy your posts and marvel at your accomplishments. Would you share your QOV quilt pattern? I am with a local QOV group. It is a privilege to give quilts to the veterans. My guild has some group presentations scheduled for October and November. Thanks, Marie
What a fun, newsy post. The quilt is gorgeous and oh, that stew looks to die for — perfect for the cooler autumn evenings. We’re at the lake and I must say, stew sounds good right now. It’s pretty brisk here. I hope you get only rain and none of the wind or other leftovers from Ian. What a sad thing that is. And isn’t it fun to create in the company of others? Can’t beat it! Happy Sew-In!
So much good cooking – I pinned your recipes for when we cool down a bit more here in Texas. At least we’re getting nice cool nights 🙂 I will be sewing tomorrow, but only for a portion of the day as I have promised to take a neighbor shopping since her car is getting repaired. I look forward to the Autumn Jubilee projects: thanks for putting those together for us!
The QOV is beautiful and the quilting panto is gorgeous on it. It sounds like you have been super busy. It’s nice to have slow cooked meals for those busy days.
I AM looking forward to Autumn Jubilee 2022! Happily I can report that we are not expecting rain tomorrow here in the Midwest. I think we’ll be grilling bratwursts or hamburgers, something easy after quilting with you Saturday! I’ll be split up though because I’ll also be Zooming an applique class.
Loved how your bobbins cooperated on the QOV quilting. I am always so happy when that happens to me too. You must’ve been holding your mouth right! haha!
You don’t seem worried about the storm coming. I just wanted to say I hope it is just a rainy day and stay safe.
Hi Carole — looks like you have been working quite hard to get ready. I have a question about your stamps. Do you have a special method for cleaning them when you are finished with your cards? I inherited a huge box of “new to me” stamps this summer and enjoy working with my granddaughters making cards. I always get stuck with the clean up tho. I have several projects to work on tomorrow, hoping the internet signal will hold up in the weather.
Today is sunny and 65 in MI so I am taking advantage and working outside! I love your Sashiko bag you made – I have a Sashiko bag that was gifted to me with a rabbit on it and its on my list to do… after the Autumn Jubilee!
Your beef recipe for the crockpot sounds so good! I’m going to look for a roast to do that with. I’m making applesauce tomorrow, too – that’s a good fall aroma for the house! Your little pouch with the Sashiko stitching is lovely. That’s a craft I’d like to try. Looking forward to Autumn Jubilee – already have some fabric picked out!
This year is a blur! It’s can’t possibly be October already! You recipes look absolutely fabulous and love the bag you made. Thanks for all the photos! Really brings your stories alive!
Your QOV is simply WONDERFUL and the savory slow cooker beef with a side of mashed potatoes looks so inviting! I don’t know how you find time to do all you do, Carole.
Sept was a slow month–machine in the shop again! Covid hit and hubby is still in the hospital. But, I did complete two UFO’s and started two new QOV mysteries. My 63rd quilt this year was the 2012 QOV mystery, and 64th was pastel stars. Each quilt and back used 10 yards, so total used this month was only 20, and no new fabric in, so YTD total used is 640.
Looks like productive finishing days! I’m looking forward to all the projects, though I won’t be reading about anything until Monday because this weekend is our semi-annual General Conference for church, and I’ll be watching all the sessions online on Saturday and Sunday. Thanks for another year of autumn projects!
You look all ready to sew with those yummy dishes all made up. Here’s to a productive sew in day for you. Looking forward to the Autumn Jubilee!
You are having all kinds of fun! I love the quilt and what great luck to not have to change bobbins in the middle of a row.
Loving me some slow cooked beef over noodles! I can smell it from here! Thanks for making me hungry! It was a great weekend to stay in & sew.