There Will Be Sewing

I was so glad that yesterday was sewing day at church. I needed the break from processing produce. How lovely to go somewhere else and fondle fabric for a couple of hours.

The ladies at sewing helped me to get a hero shot of the 2019 Ritzville quilt:

My phone camera is better than my digital camera, but it has a definite blurry spot on the right side. Still, it’s nice to see the entire elephant instead of just the bits and pieces I’ve been looking at for months. I’ll send this picture to the organizers of the Mennonite Country Auction so they can put it on the website.

I am undecided about next year’s quilt. I might take a year off from making one or I might not. We’ll see. If I do make one, it likely will be a smaller size. I’m not sure I am up for making another king-sized quilt top (there are 1096 half-square triangles in that quilt) and Pat’s shoulder and arm probably could use a break.

Joann, Elaine, and I tied one comforter at sewing and started another. The other ladies worked on a quilt they are quilting on commission. I’ve got two comforters to finish binding between now and the Ritzville sale so they can go with the other donated items. We were a very productive group this year!

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I made 14 quarts of apple pie filling (and a pie) on Wednesday:

This used up maybe—maybe—a third of the Duchess apples in the crate I brought home from Susan’s. Arrrgggghhh. I might make another batch of pie filling today, but we’re still trying to finish up what I canned last fall. I am not sure we need 28 quarts of pie filling. I miss having the pigs around. I wouldn’t feel bad about feeding them some of the excess apples. We have a lot and they won’t all keep.

I got all of the bean plants pulled up and stacked in the greenhouse last night after dinner. I left the pods on the plants; it would have taken me until midnight to strip them from the plants and my goal was to get everything inside before it started raining. I’ll strip the pods off the plants into the drying trays this weekend. As the pods dry out, they have a tendency to pop open and spew beans in all directions so it’s better if they are contained in the trays.

I have a lot of beans. That was the goal, yes, but they outperformed my expectations.

I don’t think we’re in danger of a frost yet even with the rain and cooler temperatures. We’ll be keeping a close eye on conditions, though. The pumpkins are starting to turn orange and I noticed that some of the grapes are ready to pick. I’m going to pull up the zucchini plants soon, too. It’s time to be done with them. Putting the garden to bed in the fall is almost as much work as getting it ready in the spring. I am taking advantage of the change in the weather, though, and there will be sewing this weekend. I don’t know yet what it’s going to be, but I have no shortage of choices.