Good Morning, Bejing.

Deutsch figures there is an open invitation to hop onto my lap and take a snooze. And sleeping on his back is icing on the cake. (That is India beside him.)

India elongated

Scout and India nap in heart formation. Now that's
love!

Deutsch's afternoon was filled with his favorite activity: digging holes. He dug two.
(Note the dirt on his face.)

Concentration is key.

"Look out China, here I come!"

"I am so going to need a bath!"

" Deutsch got dirt on me."

"I still like him, though."

This is a sight that always brings joy to Mommy when she's tired.

plum tired

"We are thrilled about our new pillow!"

This afternoon I cut the strips for this quilt's border. I had half a yard of fabric, typically enough for the task. The design's layout, however, was off kilter, and I just did get the four strips I needed.

getting things set up at my sewing desk

a view of the quilt once the border had been added

a corner view

the quilt's latest mug shot

It's been a busy day, even for Deutsch, Scout, and India. And it's been a good day. And Squidley topped things off with grilled chicken and grilled eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash.

Well, it's off to beddy bye for me. The boys are already there, so I'll likely have to bargain for at least a thin slice of mattress on which to lay my weary self.

Hoping for everyone a good evening.

Nighty night.

Parallel Bars

Today I colored (quilted) outside the lines.

Ok. I should explain. Last week I "outlined" the squares in this little quilt, employing the "stitch in the ditch" method. As implied, all that stitching was done over seams which connected the squares.

This afternnoon I quilted outside each of those "stitch in the ditch" lines by stitching a parallel line 5/8 of an inch on each side of the "stitch in the ditch" line. This method was used in both an up and down and a side to side direction. To further upgrade the beauty of the quilting (This quilt is machine-quilted.), I increased the stitch length to 4.0. Though I think this is the perfect length for my current project, stitch length is really a matter of personal preference. Oh, and just a by the way. For the stitching in the ditch, I used a standard stitch size. I may change that, too, to a 4.0 for future projects.

The end results are quite keen. Not only does the quilt sport beautiful parallel lines in both directions on the quilt, but said lines simultaneously produce four mini-squares, joined together, each time four regular-sized squares meet.

a quilt with a view (from the back side)

I also stitched jumbo, canary colored rick rack to the quilt body's perimeter. This sharp flash of color will outline the pieced squares, much like a frame's mat can make it's picture "pop." Next, I will add a narrow border to the four sides. Once that has been completed, a solid brown binding will complete the quilt.

When Deutsch gave me this adoring look this afternoon, I was pretty certain that this little picture would get its fifteen minutes on tonight's post.

And lastly, I present a happy, smiling India.

So, it has been a good day. And I forgot to mention that Squidley took me to lunch, where we had, among other things, fresh fried chicken, rice and gravy, and bread pudding. Needless to say, we didn't need a heavy dinner tonight, so Squidley made each of us a great salad.

Well, after a cool afternoon that turned even cooler later on, I am ready to retire for the evening to our very warm beddy bye. Of course, tomorrow's high is predicted to be in the eighties, so today's sweat shirt will be swapped out for a short sleeved tee.

So, hoping everyone has a most pleasant day tomorrow.

Nighty night.

Positive Imperfection

Our Mother's Day picnic was short and to the point. While the day had been adorned with an abundant amount of sunshine, so, too, was it embraced with strong, cool winds that only rarely let up. And when unloading picnic items from the Jeep onto the wooden table, we had a major fight on our hands. Hence, Squidley's golf shoes securing one end of the tablecloth. We basically lookied for anything and everything to assist in the anchoring task. Initiallly we had debated whether to go to Plan B: going home and having our picnic on the floor in our pick of rooms. Stubbornness, however, prevailed, and we held our ground, so to speak on the picnic issue.

The beautiful setting pretty much explains our determination in staying the course.

homemade macaroni salad (There was homemade lemonade, too.)

Despite our decision to hold to our original plan, we did cave in on the "dining location." We ate in the back of the Jeep. Turns our, that was kinda neat. Squidley turned the radio to a "forties" music station, which entertained us with everything from "Little Brown Jug" to "I'm in the Mood for Love." (You know, the tune Alfafa always used for expressing his love to Darla.)

The only surprise bigger than the fierce, cool wind was dessert: North Carolina strawberries smothering Hagaen Das vanilla ice cream. Yippee! (Yippee, that is, until my teeth began chattering!)

On the way home, Squidley pointed out this far away lighthouse, and I quickly recorded this extra memory for the two of us.

The day was far from perfect, in the usual way, that is. And that is what actually made the day just right. A typically perfect day might soon have been forgotten. This day, however, had character and will be etched in our minds for years and years.

A good evening to everyone.

Olan Mills Stills

I had planned a lengthier post this evening; however, due to unforseen circumstances, that is simply not going to happen. One larger dachshund suddenly appeared in front of my feet, and I tripped. As I stumbled, I also stepped on little India's front paw or back foot. I'm not sure which. (She's just fine.) Meanwhile, I fell all the way to the floor, after throwing my arms downward in an effort to lessen the consequences of the unavoidable fall. The result: both upper arms are quite achy (in the same spot on each arm), and my neck is achy as well. So Squidley has given me a nice dose of motrin and is sending me to bed. So, I should be ok. But I tell you what: if this inteferes in any way with my housework, I'll just scream! (Insert a huge guffaw at this point.)

So, the above pictures have just made my day, and I want to share them with you.

I hope your weekend was pleasant, and I hope your week will be wonderful.

Nighty night, all.

Mom, the Palindrome

These are photographs I shot of India this evening, and I must say that she is a photgrapher's dream. It just seems impossible to take a bad picture of her. There are times, however, when I miss getting good shots simply because she spontaneously begins bounding with joy. But that is a good thing.

I have a determined headache tonight, so I'm signing off early. I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend. Oh, yeah, and here's sending good wishes to all those celebrating Mother's Day tomorrow.

Nighty night.

Three Dog Night

This is but a small sample of my wonderful day. I will post additional, related photographs in a future entry.

The best part of my day was accepting an invitation to lunch from Squidley. One of our favorite "midday" eating establishments was serving, among other specials, delicious fried catfish. I like that I can always get a nice salad, too. And the icing on the cake is the consistently sweet tea. Southern style! Honestly, I always try drinking as much as I can. And often I also take a large sweet tea to go, too. Of course, the very best thing about going to lunch was being in Squidley's company.

The above picture is a closeup of a lap-sized quilt I worked on this afternoon. I took the pieced front side and sandwiched it with cotton batting an d a printed cotton backing. I used quite a few quilting safety pins to secure the three layers. Next, I stitched around all of the thirty-six squares (with the exception of the outer edges), employing the "stitch in the ditch" method. I had used this process once before and had fair success. With that experience under my belt, I knew that sewing a little more slowly would likely yield "a lot more stitches in the ditch." At any rate, I will do a bit more quilting on the piece, something in each of the squares. Then it will be ready for binding. Yippee!

Well, it is late, and we are all tired. India is going to sleep with Deutsch and Scout for the first time tonight, and she is going to love that. During her first few weeks here, we just felt she was too small.

I wish everyone a wonderful weekend.

Nighty night.

A Doxie Goodnight

Nighty night, all.