Quilts and Chicken

I watched Boston dance at the National competition via live stream.  She did very well as did her whole studio group.  Even though the picture quality on the live stream isn't the best, I can still pick her out of a crowd and follow her dance steps.  Loved every second of it.

I did some sewing in between Boston' dances.  I finished sewing the pieces together to make these blocks.

Now I just need to sew the blocks together and then add the batting and backing before quilting.  So many now use quilting machines or even use their sewing machines to do the final quilting, but I am old fashioned, I guess.  I like the look of hand quilting, even though it takes longer to finish.

I don't do fancy art quilts like so many who enter their quilts in quilt shows.  Mine are strictly utility quilts that are made for warmth on beds - not to be hung on a wall and admired.  I love to look at all those fancy quilts, but I make mine from leftover fabric or from fabric that is on sale at my local fabric store.

This is the quilt I will finish only if I live another 10 years.  It is called "Grandmother's Flower Garden."  Each hexagon is sewn by hand - no sewing machine work here.

Please excuse the untidy look of it.  It gets wrinkled while working on it.  All of the flower blocks are done and I am in the process of sewing them together.  I work on it sometimes in the evening while watching something I like on my computer.  Maybe a movie or some other program like Antiques Roadshow.  It takes lots of tiny stitches to sew the pieces together and is time consuming.  But I really like this old fashioned pattern, so I keep plugging away at it.

Lori was going shopping on Saturday and asked if I needed anything.  Our local big box grocery had chicken legs and thighs in the family-sized packs on sale at a good price, so I asked her to get me three packages of each.  In between Boston's dance numbers I filled 13 quart jars with whole legs and thighs.  I use the wide mouth jars  for ease in removing the meat when I go to use it.  That took care of all the wide mouth quart jars I had.  That left me with two package of thighs.  Those are simmering on the stove and when they are done I will take the meat from the bones and can it in pint jars.  There should be some nice chicken broth to can as well.

I hadn't planned to do any canning over the weekend, but when the opportunity presents itself, it seems like a person should take advantage of it.  After all, that gives me another couple of weeks worth of suppers and the way things are going in the world around us, I think I will be glad to have it.  Things are just getting way too crazy to ignore.  We need to be prepared for anything.