Marking

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my Basket Case quilt. Several of you asked how I would be quilting it. I plan to outline quilt (1/4 inch inside) each basket piece. I will most likely need to quilt in the ditch around the blocks to prevent the 1 inch lattice from "puffing". I do not mark the outline quilting. I use to use 1/4 tape, but I have been "eyeballing" it for a few years and it always looks straight and even. The lines that need to be marked on this quilt were done with stencils and a Barol (brand) water soluble pencil. The pencil in the picture above is my last one of a dozen I bought 16+ years ago.
I placed a water lily in all the white triangles and my favorite braid in the stretch of green.
The corner white triangles will be outlined as they are too small for a flower, and the braid will be quilted in the corners. I still need to put a little design in the dark squares of the large baskets. I have a stencil that I think will be just right. I love stencils!!
It is basically all ready to baste. I got my backing fabric and batting. My friend Coleen has offered to baste it on her long arm....she promised it would not get cooties (a private joke between us...she gets me.) if I let her do that for me. I say "let her" because it is difficult for me to accept help in most areas. I will take it to her house on Wednesday and get it done.
Tomorrow, TJ and Emerson are coming to see me for the day. I have not seen my grandkids in over a week! They live only 1.5 miles from me, but we have all been so busy...well tomorrow is the day. That will give Rachel a nice break too. She is an incredible mommy, but I am just as good a grandma! We start our church softball team playoffs tomorrow night. Sweetheart and Kyle both play so me and the kids will go cheer them on! They have another game on Saturday at 7:30 am....I will be missing that one!!
Here is a quick kitchen tip for you all. Have you ever bought ground chuck that is not well ground? I always buy my ground chuck at Kroger where they grind it twice. If they only grind it once (Walmart) then it has that "wormy" look to it and can be tough. I ended up with some Walmart ground chuck and I used my pastry cutter to "cut" it up while cooking. It worked really well. Much easier than a fork or spoon. We had Beef Stroganoff tonight. Sweetheart calls it "Slop". Anything all mixed up with a sauce base, he calls "Slop" though he eats it and says it was good. I don't make slop very often even though I love it! We have chicken and noodle slop, tuna and noodle slop, and beef stroganoff slop.

Beef Stroganoff

Browned Ground Beef, drained (you can add a minced onion and a clove of garlic)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
8 oz sour cream
1/2 soup can of milk
1 can of drained peas
1 bag cooked egg noodles

Mix it all together and serve with bread and butter and ice cold milk.

My friend Sue gave me this recipe long ago. I think she makes it a tad differently, but very close.
Tomorrow I take the day with my babies and Wednesday I get my quilt basted. It will be in the hoop by Thursday!