Sew Many Pieces

You might say it was a day of over-optimism yesterday. I thought it was going to get warmer, but when I looked up from my stitching, the snow was coming down fast and furious.

The kitties were outside for a few minutes before that. I caught Sadie just as she took the mighty leap to the "safe" part of the deck.

It's a little like being the first person to jump into a cold swimming pool. "Come on in! The water's fine!" you say, as you stifle your chattering teeth. Smitty followed, but reluctantly.

We were all happier ensconced in the warmth of the sewing room. And here's where I was overly optimistic again, thinking a finished flimsy wasn't out of the question. Good grief. I wonder who I had in mind to sew all those pieces together that were cut the day before. There were six of these:

17 of these...

17 of these...

17 of these...

7 of these...

7 of these...

and 7 each of these.

Phew! And that was a solid day of sewing. Today I will actually start sewing it all together into a flimsy. Maybe today I'll get it all finished.

So are you guys interested in these low-calorie dinners from the diet? The one from last night was pretty good. This one is Spaghetti Squash Shrimp Scampi.

It was easy enough to make it. You roast the spaghetti squash and then scoop out the "spaghetti." I happen to love spaghetti squash. Fair warning, though. The recipe says to cut it into rings for roasting, and even my sharpest knife couldn't easily cut through that hard squash outer shell. And I really hate scrubbing my own arterial spray when it spatters the walls of my kitchen, don't you?  I ended up cutting mine in half and roasting it that way. The spinach and shrimp were sauteed in a little olive oil and butter and then the squash added at the end. It made for a tasty dish. It takes about an hour to roast the squash, but then dinner is ready in just a few minutes. Asparagus is looking good right now, and so I served ours with a side of steamed asparagus.

This morning, we finished up the last of the inchies. The two remaining squares had fabric. Square #14 (Valentine's Day) had a little heart.

Square #3 had a little swatch of the same fabric. I used a very light-weight fusible on both to minimize fraying and to hold them in place while I finished the stitching.

Here's the whole thing.

I have enough scraps of the same fabric to add a border and a back, and then I'm going to hand quilt straight lines between the squares and turn it into a little doll quilt. So here's my question to those of you who know so much more about hand quilting than I. To minimize bulk, I think I'll use a piece of white flannel for my batting. What is the best thread to use in this case? Quilting thread? Embroidery floss? Perle cotton? I'll probably get more answers than I know what to do with, but I'm asking anyway. What are your thoughts? We have a trip south planned for later in the month, and this will make a good take-along project.

Today I'll be fitting in housekeeping chores between stints of sewing, and trying to get the Tuxedo cats sewn into a finished flimsy. Yesterday taught me to lower my expectations, but I'm still hoping to get it finished. Dinner is in the slow cooker for tonight...a turkey breast for hot turkey sandwiches...a family favorite. What's going on at your place today?