Galveston, Gluten Free Flour, and Project Progress

Greetings from a pleasant South Texas!  I would like to wish all a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your family!  I am thankful for Clay, Melissa, and Alexa and our good health!  So many things to be thankful for.

Galveston – We planned to take a week and go to Galveston, Texas to enjoy the beach and listening and watching the surf since Rockport was blown away with Harvey!  We left on the 12th and planned to stay until the 20th, but we quickly found out that Galveston is now just a big town on an island and the main highway is parallel to the shoreline.  Almost no beach.  Galveston is now mostly a stop off for those who are going on a Cruise, Moody Gardens, and a Historical District of which we were not impressed!  There was one pier to walk down to the T-head and it cost $10.00 per person.  To sit on their deck was $2.00 a person.  We could not believe how Galveston is no longer a ‘beach’ island.  So we came home on the 16th.  The Hampton was great – could not have found better service or room.  We stayed in a Suite that had a great view of the ocean and balcony to sit and enjoy the breeze.  All in all it was a nice getaway, but we did not leave anything there!

There was a plus in coming home early on Thursday – we  stopped to wash the Navigator, picked up the mail, we unloaded and I unpacked and vacuumed and then I sat in my chair until bedtime!  I did my grocery shopping early Friday morning for our Mexican Thanksgiving Lunch.  I happened to find some gluten-free flour by Bob’s Red Mill.  Here is what I made and they were so good, until….. 5 minutes after I ate 1/2 of a muffin I started not feeling well.  That lasted 4 days!  It appears that when they make gluten-free things like flour they are now using Sweet White Sorghum!  WELL, it is boatload with fiber and I cannot do fiber – I was sick for 4 days with my upset tummy!  Another goodie off my limited food list.  In my research to find out why went wrong, I discovered that to get “flour” without any additives one must buy Wheat Flour!  Who knew, I did not.  Also, I realized that “Barley” is a no-no for me!  Hum.  Anyway, I am back to normal and will never purchase ‘gluten’ free anything – I will stick with my 6 things to eat.

Now for some project updates!  Before we left for Galveston, I had finished making all of my circles for Mount Mellick border.  I have the circles pinned and work on them in the evening.

I have one row appliquéd and hopefully will finish them by the week-end.

Then I decided that it is time to finish Stonefields or at least prepare the remainder of the sections for piecing and appliqué.  I have started working on Section 5 and plan on preparing the next 5 Sections this week-end.  I will be able to do some sewing during the day and hand appliqué blocks in the evening.  Maybe I will finish this by the end of December (LOL).  I have finished 7 of the blocks in Section 5 and have 5 blocks left to prepare for appliqué.

I will  appliqué the mitered corners!  If I would have had some Toille fabric that would have blended I would have used that instead of what I did, but I think they will get lost within the 121 blocks that are in this quilt.  Here is a picture of the blocks that I have completed so far.  I probably would have chosen different fabrics for the 3 blocks if I had felt better.

I am using  2 different beige colors of the Moda Apple Cider fabric with tiny hexagons for my background fabric.  Section 5, 6, and 7 will be the lighter color so I will be able to offset them when putting the quilt together.

There is a quilt named Life is Beautiful that caught my eye about 6 months ago and after spending 3 months ‘thinking’ about it I ordered it from Australia.  I received it last week and all I will say is that it is not worth the $$$$ I spent for it!!!!!  Rip Off!

Well, that is all for now, have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the food and family!