saturday sewing

with impending heat wave,  ran around saturday picking up groceries, prescriptions etc.....finally got some sewing time in the evening before mandatory silence cloaks the abbey (manager's initials are MS so i've nicknamed her mother superior...LOL).  most of my september "must do" items are secret, but did work on the seemingly eternal donation quilt...

every time i think i'm getting close to finishing, glance at the entire quilt and sigh....but it WILL be done maybe by year's end?  ***  when life gives you blues...make muffins!  up early doing some hand sewing due to "silence curfew" and thought about the pint of berries in my fridge....yes, they are delish!

bit of housework before can dive into sewing stuff....now that sun up and dracula has retreated, can use the noisy sewing machine....

a positive sign

for those of you who are doing the moda blockheads sew-along, you'll recognize this block from laurie simpson over at minick & simpson.  i had seen this block in a blues/white quilt on an earlier post and swooned over it.  then at a recent guild meeting, saw a collection of pink polka-dot fabrics that called my name, sooo.....

spent some time getting re-acquainted with betty and sewed these up..  more to come but liking them so far.   of course, i have no business at all starting something new, especially with this staring me in the face and looming larger and larger...

this behemoth has to be tackled very soon or scrap basket becomes scrap tote, and that is a slippery slope that must be avoided....LOL!  ***  september is a busy charity sewing month for me, but hoping once all commitments are met, it'll be my turn to rack up some finishes before (shudder) 2018 breathes its last.  and you know, it comes all to quickly....we are in for a hot week next week, meaning hibernating in A/C meaning betty will be humming from dawn to dusk.  keep cool and sew on!

back to home base

after a very early departure from maine (5:45 am), arrived at BWI Amtrak station at 7:14 pm weary but not exhausted.  it's only the last hour that is tough....spent overnite at DD and DSIL getting a whopping 10 hours' sleep...so very thankful to have that option.  arrived back at home in time for bookmobile and getting a few grocery necessities.  then the job of unpacking....first was this lovely small quilt that'll make an ideal table topper for my chairside table from vic.  she loves red, and this piece with some of her beauties is so fall-like. it has a nice floral flannel backing too....

this letter opener was a give back from mom.  it was bought at the UN in 1965 by me as a trinket and she's had it all these years.  a few nicks, but just seeing it brings back memories of the day.  it was a trip by the world affairs club in the 10th grade... ***  and isn't this a gorgeous bag?

it contained my birthday gift from DD....a gold chain for my gold cross charm and a lovely new nitegown....she has such wonderful taste and always knows just the right things to choose...and the card was sentimental that choked me up....i am so blessed indeed!

last day...

of my wonderful two weeks in maine visiting family...spending the day storing up hugs from mum and doing some secret sewing for an october guild meeting, so all i can show is this...

wait, are those bats?  could beeee....  *** since i'll be traveling the entire day, have prepped a lunch and some snacks to take along.  and the toughest thing on tuesday--aside from saying goodby to my mum--is to get this puppy closed! 

the only extras are a few shirts from the thrift, a few jars of jam from stonewall kitchen and the 7.5 yards picked up at marden's and busy thimble...everything else came with me....somehow it WILL get zipped....next stop maryland!

slow summer sunday

the vacation itinerary has been retired with only 3 stops missed and not as much beach time as had hoped, but simply could not fit one more thing into my visit here.  today and tomorrow on pause to re-energize and pack for trip home to maryland.  did get more sewing time in with another small stack of bow tie blocks finished...

and how blessed am i?  my mom still bakes me a blueberry pie for my birthday--tiny, sweet, maine blueberries of course--and even though the pie is delish, just the fact that it's from her makes it precious indeed.

a batch of spaghetti sauce is on the stove for mom's freezer, but we HAVE to finish up the lobster for lunch.  aside from my family, it's the ocean and seacoast i miss at home.  tried to get my fill of fresh seafood with lobster, steamer clams, fried clams, scallops and haddock, but never tire of the invigorating ocean aroma with sand and crashing waves.   but i would miss my daughter and her hubster more than i could bear had i not relocated....an easy choice!

good vacation times continue....

wednesday dawned simply perfect; first a meet up with denise, a maine quilty pal and soon-to-be first-time grandma!  her cheerful spirit and ability to coast over rough roads has always inspired me...she is a tornado of a busy gal!

then it was beach time....oh so perfect with plenty of waves and water temp near 70....yes, 70....so refreshing and enjoyable!

on the way home after a bittersweet departure, stopped for more lobster and some uber-fresh haddock fillet...yummmm!  ***  thursday was the trek to machias, an all day drive and time to meet more family at the original farm of my mother's grandparents....

we also drove by the burnham tavern, home of my DAR chapter and used as a hospital during the Battle of the Margaretta back in 1775...a must see if you are ever in the area...

northeast maine is blueberry country and they were present on every corner...but we picked our own at the local cemetery....the annual blueberry festival was due to start the next day, another must-do event!  and last by certainly not least, we had to stop at helen's restaurant, a local institution, for some of their renown pie.  of course they have lots of fresh, local seafood too, but we had picnicked, saving room for dessert....

there were 3 of us; i had this chocolate cream--best ever--another had their famous blueberry and another lemon meringue, all very delish.  it was a bit of a slip off the cardiac diet, but i didn't eat all that whipped cream, which is over one inch thick on top of barely sweet, must-be-homemade chocolate mousse/pudding and the flakiest pastry i ever saw. 

helen's is another can't-miss venue if you find yourself in machias....it's friday and that means only 3 more days that'll be low key, just spending time together, before the long ride home to my DD and DSIL and my cozy apartment....

some sewing...

in the midst of the travels and fun...

these work up quickly and have almost a block's worth here...i keep a plastic pencil box stocked with cut pieces to grab and go...the weather has been so-so with gray skies and clouds plus an occasional downpour, but didn't prevent us from trekking to boothbay harbor, which is nice even on cloudy days, especially when temps are high...i never get tired of the ocean vistas or the sea's fragrance....lots of pretty places to stop and do just that...

on today's schedule is lunch with another quilty gal pal plus another farm stand hit, more lobster maybe and more ocean/beach time....the days are dwindling before back to home and my maryland life....

vacation train rolls on....

with a bit more retail therapy to start....visit to that awesome reproduction shop of cyndi black called "busy thimble" where i picked up these few goodies for my dutch chintz tree of life project...

cyndi's shop is jam packed with plenty of beauties like this, so the choice was daunting as you can imagine....and despite mother nature keeping the sun to herself, we soldiered on to freeport monday to another yummy place...

and the surroundings couldn't be more, well, port-ish with boats all around....always wondered where the water was in freeport and my coworkers at LLBean clued me in when i worked there...the claim was it was where the locals went for seafood but yesterday plenty of tourists judging by the languages we heard....

sunday we got in a band concert, again cloudy but rain held off until it was over....the US Army National Guard band at this quaint small-town park not far from my first grade school and where i fell off the merry-go-round on the playground....(ignore the thumb)

and the highlight of monday's seafood shack visit was meeting up with vic from NH, a long-time Stashbuster (yahoo group) pal and fellow partner in fabric crimes...lol....we have both weathered difficult winters but still smiling and vertical, which is all that counts....she scarfed down a lobster roll and me and mom had fresh haddock sandwiches...plenty of catching up and hugs goodby as she trekked back to 'nahampshire' as they say in these parts...

this was my first-ever selfie and you can tell technology had my attention!   *** as if we weren't busy enough, got into a minor fender bender with the rental vehicle...someone was illegally passing on the right and nearly ran me off the road.  slow speeds prevented any serious damage or injury of any kind, but bit of a hassle with police, paperwork and a swap of vehicles.   other driver clearly at fault, so we were able to trade cars and go on our merry way...today's itinerary a bit slower as the vacation train barrels on at warp speed, it seems....

just call me....

a tourist!  now that i'm living below the mason-dixon line, trips to maine make me an official tourist in vacationland....first up, new balance outlet where the tent sale was ongoing...hordes of shoppers but found mine quickly...

next stop jam heaven...my grandmother would be horrified to see the prices on these jams, but some of the flavors are unique and my hands-down fave is the pink grapefruit marmalade....and the bellini is good too--they all are really!

next stop famous mardens where the voluminous bolts of quality fabric at astounding prices was overwhelming...did find a few for specific purposes and a couple of fun stripey prints...they make excellent bias binding!

and our last stop was our favorite lobsterman....prices there were excellent too....in maryland, wegman's sells live lobster for $17.99 a pound but here in vacationland/lobsterville usa, the price was just $4.65 per pound....a bag full came home with a luncheon feast planned for today. 

have to admit the cardiac diet has been tweaked a bit with moderation, of course, including 1/2 of a whoopie pie, a bit of yummy chinese food with fried clams to come...it's vacation after all!  have also been to the beach where the ocean water was above frigid and so refreshing....it's the best time of year to swim in maine where the hot summer has warmed the waters and cooling off in autumn hasn't started yet...remaining 10 days jam packed with more fun things; best of all seeing my mom and siblings in person to strengthen the bonds and bask in comfort of their love....

monday, monday...

overcast and rain threatens here but this being maryland, it's the norm lately....very hot at 90+ degrees so hibernating in A/C....doing lots of sewing, most of it secret, but can show you shirt #2 that is now done...just buttonholes remain....

very plain historical type shirt in cream linen....didn't realize how heavy it was until it was done...imagine flax is much lighter...or maybe not...but this has some weight to it....after vacation will start on breeches, which are more involved but do-able....that's all to show...and now that have vacuumed up threads and all, can start something else...LOL!