Camelot Quilt, A Quilter's Day Out, and Zucchini Report

The quilt maker was kind enough to supply the following information about this quilt.
"Camelot", made from instructions in the Quiltmania magazine, starting with the Jan/Feb 2016 issue.

We discussed quilting ideas, then I sent her a few mockups that I drafted on Intelliquilter (which is the computer drive for my quilting machine).  She chose a couple of borders, and the pretty feathered wreath that fills in between the blocks.

The treatment in each of the blocks was up to me.

I stuck with straight lines, curved lines, pumpkin seeds, and feathers.

When I had everything done except the spaces between the blocks we discussed again, and settled on the bowtie-ish fill.  I really liked that choice because it echoes the circles of the compass blocks.

The wide border got a new-to-me feather design.  Love. 💓

The back.  Sooo pretty.

For those quilters who think "Oh, she's computerized, she doesn't really have to DO anything."...these are the rulers I used on this quilt.

So.  Do you want to hear about my day out this past week?  I had to go pick up my sewing machine which was in for service.  I picked up my friend who was keeping me company and we headed off to Sew Etc. in Burlington, where I got my Pfaff out of hock (a $10 surcharge for cleaning?  Really?).  After I got my machine safely ensconsed in the back seat, we were  discussing lunch locations and decided to head over to Swiss Chalet.  The Bulk Barn just happens to be on the way so we made a pit stop there and I filled up on Almond Butter.  Next stop:  Swiss Chalet.  BTW, they are hiring for all positions, if anyone is looking for a job.  Next door happens to be the CIBC so we walked over and I did a little banking.  Then my friend said:  "Oh look, a shoe store."  Well, dammit.

We tried to go to the Farmer's Market (even though I had NO MONEY left) but the farmers were all closed and heading home.  Up the escarpment we go, and I asked if she needed anything at Costco.  I had to stop for a double package of vinegar, and the ziploc bags that were on sale.  Well, as you probably know, you can't buy just two things at Costco.
So my day out cost me:
machine service: $147.45
Almond butter:  $10.90
Lunch:                $20.00
Shoes:               $185.43
Costco:              $51.45
=====================
Total:              $415.23

I'm not sure if I should go out MORE often so I don't spend so much in one friggin' afternoon, or LESS often which would mean I'd stay home and eat zucchini.  For free.

ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked this week:  18
Picked YTD:        104 ***Woo Hoo!  Broke the 100 mark!
Gave away this week:  0 none, zip, nada.

I didn't give any away, (well except to the compost, which got a few fuzzy ones)  but I did make six jars of relish, and froze 12 cups of shredded zucchini for the winter.

Railroad Tracks Quilt and Dear Universe: Please Bugger Off!

I love the colours in this quilt.  And I would never, ever do this much paper piecing.

Quilted with tons of s.i.d.  Added x-hatching in the blue background and some little feathers in the gold centers.

DEAR UNIVERSE:  PLEASE BUGGER OFF!!

I've been up since about 2:30 this morning.  I think my stress levels might be just a wee bit too high. In the past month...

• Door knob fell off (bought all new door lock sets = $600).
• Fridge quit (quickie emergency fridge $400 plus new REAL fridge $3300).
• New furniture is waiting to be delivered but the old furniture has not sold yet ($2600).
• Must pick up 4 gallons of pre-purchased paint by month end, a bargain I got last year.  I've been waffling on paint colours but the deadline for pickup is Sept. 30th.
• Sadie's been eating herself.  She's wearing a cone and is now on antibiotics twice daily for 2 weeks.
• And the worst news:  my sister passed away unexpectedly last weekend.

Goodbye Sharon.  I'll  miss having a sister.  No one else can answer those dumb questions I have. 😢

ZUCCHINI REPORT
Picked this week:  3 (to Sept. 10)
Picked YTD:        83

Sail, Save, and Soup

In the dead of winter, quilts like this always make me smile.

I am reminded that there ARE other seasons, besides cold. 

What.  You didn't know cold was a season?  DH has been having a cold for three weeks now.  Doesn't that sound like fun?

What a great job the quilt maker did.  

SOUP
Thursday was Red Hat day.  Lois hosted us at her lovely new home, where we had a SOUPFEST.  These 'in-house' events are so much fun.  We sit around and yak for a couple of hours.
This Pumpkin Soup was my contribution, and after trying it out on DH a week earlier, I knew it would be a hit.

 

SPICY PUMPKIN SOUP WITH COCONUT MILK

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon red curry paste

1 14 or 15-oz can pumpkin

1 14-oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles (*)

(*) I have been unable to find this product.  Instead, I use regular diced tomatoes PLUS 1 teaspoon of Minced Green Chili (found in Food Basics, brand “India’s Best” in the International aisle)

1 heaping cup roasted corn kernels (either canned or frozen corn, lightly charred in a frying pan)

1/2 cup salsa

1 cup light broth (either vegetable or chicken)

1 14-oz. can coconut milk

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Juice from 1 fresh lime

Instructions:
Heat the olive oil in a heavy soup pot over medium-low heat and add the garlic, cumin and curry paste; stir for one minute. Add the pumpkin, fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles, roasted corn, and salsa. Stir to combine. Add the broth. Heat through to a simmer and add the coconut milk. Season with sea salt and ground pepper, cilantro and sugar. Heat through gently and bring to a slow simmer.Taste test and add the fresh lime juice to brighten the flavor. Stir. Add more spice if you need more heat.

Serve with organic blue corn tortilla chips.

My recipe was adapted from the original, found on glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

SAVE

As I said earlier, we sat around and yakked for several hours.  Lois finally threw us out before we'd have to be fed dinner, too.  One of the topics under discussion was the price of food.  $8 for a cauliflower.  Whaaatt??  One of the gals picked one up at the local grocers on the SALE TABLE for $ .99.  Yes.  Less than a dollar.  I will make a great little old lady, shuffling along with my walker, because I love sale tables.  But I know people who would not be caught DEAD buying anything from there.  Silly.  Given a choice of going expensive or going frugal, I'll often take frugal, keeping in mind that you get what you pay for.  After all, that is how most of us were raised - wasn't it?  Our parents had to save their pennies wherever they could.  

Because I am still reasonably fit (but let's not put that to the test, ok?) I garden to grow my own organic vegetables, I line dry most of my laundry, I cook from scratch (and that does NOT mean I scratch open a box), I save up several reasons before I get in the car to go in to town, and that car is a Honda Civic.  If something is getting a quick rinse I turn on the COLD tap, not the hot.  I shut the water off while brushing my teeth.  I make my own martinis (ha ha, I had to throw that one in there).  There are lots of ways to save a nickle and over time those nickles add up.

The wee RANT that we got into was over the shrinking farmland in southern Ontario.  Yes we can buy LOCAL cauliflower but it's getting more difficult.  Farmland is being paved over by developers.  It's also being covered with concrete by the greenhouse growers, where our precious vegetables are being grown in chemical solutions.  Yah..., um, ick.  Yes I eat them but I try not to think about it.  Local food facilities, like Bicks Pickles, Heinz, and E.D. Smith are closing.  I'm sorry, but I am NOT eating pickles from China.  Garlic in the stores is pretty much all from China.  No, no, no.  Not eating it.

My gift to you today is actually something I am passing along from the CBC web site.  It's a frugal COOKBOOK with lots of tips.  And a few zucchini recipes.  Which is really easy to grow, by the way.

GOOD AND CHEAP eat well on $4 a day, by Leeanne Brown.

If you would like to read the CBC article, you can find it here.

TEXTURE MAGIC Flowers, Poverty, Zucchini Report

These flowers are very interesting.  They were made using Texture Magic.  Here's a link.  The taupe fabric on the right side is silk.  What a gorgeous look when it's quilted.

Pretty much every morning I spend my breakfast time checking out Facebook and a couple of forums and blogs.  This was a link on Facebook this morning.

Sipping my coffee and reading the story got me thinking.  Slow, morning-fuzzy thinking.  When was the last time I raised MY rates?  Two coffees and a bowl of oatmeal later, I blew off the dust from my 2010 shoebox of bookkeeping.  Yup.  January 2010 was the last time I gave myself a raise.  Just out of curiosity, I thought I'd check on some of my annual expenses over those years.

• Property taxes increased $350
• hydro costs increased $240.  And now I have to wash my underwear at night.  In the dark.  Using cold water.
• house insurance increased $420.  Never had a claim.
• car insurance decreased $35 (huh? clearly a mistake by the insurance company)
• business insurance increased $100.  Never had a claim, but DID increase my coverage.  It's costing you gals a whole lot more to buy fabric, which increases my exposure.

Every time I get on the subject of money, my brain goes STRAIGHT to Executive Compensation.  I am a former Royal Bank employee, so I like to pick on them.  Even though my years with them were pretty much okey-dokey.  They decided to get all fancy a few years ago and morph into RBC ROYAL BANK.  Poor Mr. Nixon.  Having to get by on a measly $12,700,000 last year.  Let me spell that out for you.  Twelve million, seven hundred thousand.  Dollars.  Per year.

That moved by brain along to "I wonder how much the normal people at THE BANK earn these days?  You will see from the chart below that the customer service reps who actually look after you at the counter earn between $12 and $15 per hour.  On those wages these people are expected to dress professionally?  Um. 
Mr. Nixon!  Shame on you!  A LIVING WAGE is $14 per hour.  Anyone paid less than that is living below the poverty line.

All this financial pondering brings me to the weekly zucchini report.  Feeling as impoverished as I do right now, I regret going out for a cheap (but yummy) dinner at Bangkok Temptation last night.  Today I will eat my free zucchinis.

ZUCCHINI REPORT
Picked this week:  7
Picked YTD:       13