I am happy to report that Lemon Twist is almost finished! When I finished ripping out all the bad stitching (see my post Quilting Lemon Twist), I did some trouble shooting and discovered the top thread was not seated into the tension discs. How it jumped out is beyond comprehension, but there it was. I re-threaded the machine, did some test stitching, and all looked good. But I was nervous, and stopped to check the stitching multiple times on each replacement row and through the end of the quilting. All was well.

I removed it from the longarm, and trimmed it.

My embroidery machine was put to work creating the label, using a scrap from the backing. I added a lemon embroidery to the wording for a bit of pizazz.

Then, I turned my attention to the binding. I didn’t have enough of the blue to do the normal deeper binding that I like. But I did the math again using strips of 2-1/4-inch instead of my usual 2-1/2-inch, and found that gave me just enough to get one more 40-inch strip from the piece I had. That would make it. So I made the binding, and pinned it all around to make sure that none of the seams landed on a corner. It has been in the den for a couple of days as I work on the handwork. I did the label first, just to get it done. The rest of the binding will be done over the next few pre-season football games. I might finish that part today, and then I’ll just have the hanging sleeve to go. I have no doubt it will be ready for the fair on time.

Out on the bird feeder, two juvenile bluebirds were taking advantage of a free meal. They still have their spots, and the blue is just coming in. At this point, we cannot know if they are males or females.

It seems like our feeder is the local Dairy Queen that all the teenagers have to circle on their way through town. Here is a juvenile hairy woodpecker along with the teenage bluebirds and a juvenile (or female) house finch.

A pair of adult male goldfinches decided to supervise. I guess it was half time at the game.

Gracie stopped by for a sandwich. I haven’t seen her in several days. But she sure was hungry this day.

Quilter Pam Beck from Delaware donated a stunning quilt during our Hurricane Helene Quilt project, and it was just so extraordinary, I asked her for permission to use it for a fundraiser, and she agreed. It was given to Diane Nelson, Director of Steps to Hope for the express purpose of raising money for their shelter clients. Each year, Steps to Hope assists clients with all kinds of “basic needs” – from gas/food cards, auto repairs, and clothing to household items, rent and utility deposits for a new place. All these things are provided to assist clients. As you know, things just got a lot harder after the hurricane hit our area.

The gorgeous colors are perfect for fall. It is custom quilted in a variegated thread with orange and gold that perfectly complements the amazing piecework in the pinwheels. This beautiful quilt will be given to a “lucky winner” who contributes $10 or more during this campaign. So for every increment of $10, a person’s name will be entered to receive the quilt. You can contribute to this campaign from August 1 through September 15. Buy your tickets online at Steps to Hope Quilt Fundraiser.

On Thursday last week, our guild area group held a sew day. We brought our machines and could work on anything. I had this butterfly panel, and thought the jelly roll I also had wouldn’t really work with it, but after more experimenting with some of the prints, I think they actually will.

We took our machines and set up, had a short business meeting then dove in. I piddled around a lot, laying out colors together, and switching things around. I didn’t really have a good idea of what I wanted to do. I finally settled on preserving the butterflies as squares and framing them with squares cut from the jelly roll strips. So, I carefully cut the butterfly panels apart.

Then I sewed some of the strips together. Taking them to the pressing area, I pressed all the seams in one direction. I have three sets of three, measuring 6-1/2 inches in width, and one set of five measuring 10-1/2-inches in width. I plan to cross cut these at 2-1/2-inches to create rows of squares.

But after that, I got virtually nothing done. I made a test block with the sashing needed to bring the squares up to 10-1/2-inches. But the math was not right, and they didn’t come out at the right size. So I did it again, and still it wasn’t right. In-between experiments and dealing with the design, we had lunch and an ice cream social, plus I chatted with other quilters and helped a friend with her paper piecing. It was a nice day, in spite of being pretty much non-productive. I think I have the math figured out, and I need to trim the butterflies a bit more to make it work. I’ll get back to this when I can.

Tomatoes are at their peak at the farmer’s market stands right now and what could be better than my own tomato pie! Did I ever tell you that I like this just as much cold as I do right out of the oven? We ate half of this one at one meal, and the other half barely made it to today. It will be gone shortly. Newer readers, see my post Carole’s Tomato Pie for the recipe (with a pdf download), and my secret to keep it from getting soggy.

Yesterday, I baked My Sweet Babboo one of his favorite treats, Cinnamon Banana Bread. All you have to do is use your favorite recipe for banana bread and add one tablespoon of cinnamon. Yes, a whole tablespoon. He loves cinnamon.

I have very little time to sew this coming week between day trips and appointments. So, there will not be a lot of progress this coming week. But there will be fun! More on that next time.

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